The Book: 2003 Softball

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UT pitcher Cat Osterman retires final 20 batters after Danyele Gomez two-run home run ends Osterman's scoreless innings streak at 65

OKLAHOMA CITY - Texas pitcher Cat Osterman retired the final 20 batters of the game and the Longhorns offense came through with two home runs in the fourth and sixth innings as UT rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat 21st-ranked Louisiana 3-2 here in the opening round of the Women's College World Series at the ASA Don E. Porter Hall of Fame Stadium.

With the loss, Louisiana (47-10) falls into the loser's
bracket of the WCWS and will have Friday off before facing the loser of the UCLA-Cal game at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon in an elimination game. Third-ranked Texas advances to the winner's bracket where the Horns will face Cal in a 7 p.m. game Friday night.

Louisiana's return to the Women's College World Series and fourth appearance got off with a loud bang in the top of the first. True freshman Danyele Gomez ripped a towering home run over the left field wall that landed near the base of the aluminum baseball wall beyond the regulation softball wall.

Gomez's home run scored junior shortstop Jill Robertson who had reached on a throwing error by UT third baseman Wynter Turner.

It was her 20th home run of the season, which extended the single-season school record and gave Louisiana the early 2-0 lead off of Osterman.

Gomez is no stranger to debut home runs.

Her collegiate debut was a grand slam in the season opener against Louisiana Tech while her NCAA Regional 6 debut was a solo shot against San Diego State.

Gomez's home run ended Osterman's streak of 65 consecutive innings without a run allowed and was her first run and home run allowed since April 22 against Texas A&M.

After that, the USA Softball Player of the Year single-handedly shut down the Ragin' Cajuns offense by promptly retiring the final 20 UL batters that came to the plate.

In the meantime, the Texas offense patiently chipped away at the Cajuns 2-0 lead.

Cajuns starting pitcher Brooke Mitchell (26-8) kept the Horns off of the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth. She had worked her way out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning and retired the Longhorns in the third inning.

But in the fourth inning, UT finally broke through when Tamara Poppe deposited a Mitchell pitch over the wall in left center field to lead off the fourth inning.

With the Cajuns up top 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Texas' Amber Hall launched a one-out, first-pitch home run over the right field wall to put the Longhorns on top for the first time in the game at 3-2.

For Hall it was her second game-winning home run of the season.

Osterman would retire the side in the top of the seventh by striking out Gomez, Joy Webre and Tiffany Grayson.

The loss was just the Cajuns third this season when scoring first. UL is now 44-3 when scoring first.

Osterman improved to 31-4 on the season and won her 15th straight start. For the Longhorns it was their 19th straight victory.

Osterman struck out 11 of the 23 Cajuns batters that she faced and surrendered just one hit - the Gomez home run.

Mitchell suffered the hard-luck loss for the Ragin' Cajuns as she fell to 26-8 on the season. The Pasadena, Texas, native walked six and struck out two.

Louisiana loses its WCWS opener for the second straight appearance. In 1996, the Cajuns fell to UCLA 2-0 and came back to win its second game 7-0 over Princeton.

Louisiana will return to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. against the loser of the UCLA-Cal game which began 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Cajuns and Longhorns matchup.
LOUISIANA SI

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — This is all new for Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns.

On the other hand, the scenario is strangely different for the UCLA Bruins, too.

The Cajuns played well, and lost. The Bruins were sloppy, yet went 10 innings before losing.

One team will see a quick end to its Women’s College World Series experience when they meet at 3 p.m. today in an elimination game at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

Coach Stefni Lotief’s Cajuns fell to 47-10 on the season when Texas came back for a 3-2 victory Thursday night, then got Friday off before returning to action today.

As the No. 4 seed in Region 6, Louisiana is the lowest seed among the eight teams here. Defending national champion California, which outlasted UCLA 7-3 late Thursday night, was the No. 2 in Region 7.

Beyond that, the other six seeds were listed atop their regions and figured to be here.

But the Cajuns hardly buckled under the strain, leading No. 3 Texas 2-0 after three innings on a two-run Danyele Gomez home run and forcing the Longhorns to rally.

“I think it’s a credit to the mindset of this team that they stay focused,” Lotief said. “It’s about our team, and about being ready to play, not who’s in the other dugout.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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OKLAHOMA CITY - Second-seeded UCLA used a three-run sixth inning and a one-hitter by pitcher Keira Goerl to cap off a 5-1 win over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team here Saturday afternoon in an elimination game at the 2003 Women's College World Series at the ASA Don E. Porter Hall of Fame Stadium.

With the loss, an outstanding season of accomplishment comes to a close for Louisiana at the place where only eight teams across the nation could claim of going to this season - Oklahoma City.

UL closes out its season with a 47-11 record and wraps up the fourth appearance in program history at the WCWS. The Cajuns also concluded the third season under head coach Stefni Lotief.

For seniors Summar Lapeyrouse, Becky McMurtry, Michael Parrott and Rachel Reese it marks the end of their collegiate playing days.

For the rest of the team, it provides a valuable learning experience for a run at the WCWS in 2004.

The Bruins jumped on the board in the first inning on a Claire Sua fielder's choice grounder that scored Caitlin Benyi who had reached on a one-out infield single and advanced over to third base on a single into right field by Tairia Mims.

UCLA (50-7) would extend its lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning on a Mims home run to left field over the portable bleachers just beyond the left field wall. It was Mims' second homer of the tournament and the 60th of her career. It was also the third home run off of Mitchell in the WCWS after she allowed just six home runs in 39 appearances prior to the tournament.

Louisiana broke through with its first hit of the game off of UCLA starting pitcher Keira Goerl in the bottom half of the fourth inning when catcher Joy Webre delivered an RBI single deep into the hole in right center field.

Webre's single scored senior All-American third baseman Becky McMurtry, but she was thrown out at second by Stephanie Ramos as she was trying to stretch it into a double and ended the Cajuns two-out threat.

The run scored by McMurtry was her 59th of the season which established a career-best for the North Platte, Neb., native.

McMurtry drew a one-out walk to give the Cajuns their first base runner of the game since Jill Robertson led off the bottom of the first inning by reaching on an error by UCLA shortstop Natasha Watley.

After a Gomez fly out, center fielder Tiffany Grayson reached base on Watley's second error of the game to keep the inning alive.

Watley's error set the stage for Webre's single, the Cajuns lone hit of the game, and a run which trimmed the Bruins lead to 2-1 after four complete.

UCLA would create some breathing room with three runs in the sixth inning highlighted by a two-run home run from Monique Mejia that turned a 2-1 advantage into a 4-1 UCLA lead.

The home run was Mejia's first of the WCWS and just the second of her career. It was the fourth homer allowed by Mitchell during the WCWS.

Watley provided the Bruins final run of the day when she drove a double into deep center field that scored Andrea Duran who had doubled the at bat before.

Watley's run-producing hit gave the Bruins a 5-1 lead and chased UL starting pitcher Brooke Mitchell.

Mitchell, playing with a biceps injury suffered on championship Sunday in Fullerton, Calif., gave her best shot in the circle and never gave up. The Pasadena, Texas, native was charged with five runs off of nine hits and her second straight loss.

Mitchell ended her sophomore campaign at 26-9 with a 1.11 ERA and 279 strikeouts. She ended the season as the school's all-time single-season strikeout leader.

Goerl collected the win for the Bruins and improved to 36-7. The right-hander struck out eight batters and allowed just one hit and one run (unearned run) in leading the Bruins into an elimination game against Washington in the final game on elimination Saturday at the WCWS.

LINE SCORE

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UCLA 5, Louisiana 1 (May 24, 2003 at Oklahoma City, Okla.)

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UCLA................ 101 003 0 - 5 9 2 (50-7)
Louisiana 000 100 0 - 1 1 1 (47-11)

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Pitchers: UCLA - Goerl. Louisiana - Mitchell; Thoms(6).
Win-Goerl(36-7) Loss-Mitchell(26-9) T-2:26 A-6520
HR UCLA - Mims; Mejia.
UL eliminated from 2003 WCWS
Cajuns end the season with a 47-11 record

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Louisiana ends 2003 season in the Top 10 for highest ranking under head coach Stefni Lotief and since 1996

LOUISIANA La. - A return to the Women's College World Series figured to be a huge plus for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team.

On Wednesday, the Ragin' Cajuns (47-11) found out just how much.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association and USA Softball released their respective final Top 25 polls for the 2003 season and both found the Cajuns of head coach Stefni Lotief ranked in the Top 10.

The Lady Cajuns of Louisiana ended the season where many expected them to be - among the Top 8 in the country. The Cajuns checked in both polls at No. 8 for their final resting place until next season.

Louisiana No. 8 spot marks the highest finish ever by a Sun Belt school in the national rankings and is the highest finish since the 1996 season.

Louisiana also finished ranked in the final polls for the first time since 2001. Last season, the Cajuns were dropped out of the Top 25 following the NCAA Tournament.

In the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, the Lady Cajuns jumped 13 spots from No. 21.

Louisiana garnered 259 points and were only 13 points behind No. 7 Alabama. The Cajuns gained 148 points from the NFCA poll released before conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament started.

The Lady Cajuns found themselves ranked higher than DePaul, Cal State Fullerton, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska and in-state rival Louisiana State.

Louisiana entered the NFCA poll on March 24, after not being ranked in the preseason edition, and remained a member each week since a span of 10 weeks.

In the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, the Cajuns made a 15-spot jump from No. 23 up to No. 8.

Louisiana, which had 71 points in the poll before NCAA Tournament play, gathered an additional 264 to reach 335 total points and finish eighth in the final poll.

The Cajuns joined the USA Softball poll on March 31 and remained ranked for the remainder of the season.

The Cajuns ended the 2003 season with a 47-11 record overall and a 13-3 Sun Belt Conference record.

The Cajuns made their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999 and 13th in the last 14 years. UL Lafayette's WCWS appearance was the first since 1996 and fourth in program history.

Louisiana also won its third straight Sun Belt Conference regular season title and fourth straight SBC Tournament championship as the Lady Cajuns remain the only champion that the league has ever known.

LOUISIANA SI

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FINAL 2003 SOFTBALL POLLS

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	UCLA (15)	54-7	375	2
2	California	49-20	354	9
3	Arizona	56-7	342	1
4	Texas	49-9	339	3
5	Oklahoma	47-14	309	5
6	Washington	47-16-1	305	8
7	Alabama	49-21	272	16
8	Louisiana	47-11	259	21
9	DePaul	48-7-1	234	4
10	Cal State Fullerton	41-15	221	6
11	Georgia	57-14	208	7
12	Michigan	44-16	185	14
13	Nebraska	39-17	182	11
14	Oklahoma State	39-15	162	13
15	Louisiana State	50-18	150	12
16	Oregon	37-19	135	18
17	Iowa	44-15	110	23
(tie)	Texas A&M	38-22	110	22
19	Florida State	46-11	106	10
20	Arizona State	32-25	81	15
21	South Carolina	39-19	77	20
22	Southern Illinois	39-14	76	24
23	Stanford	41-26	67	17
24	Michigan State	40-19	56	NR
25	South Florida	54-19	52	19

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RAGIN' CAJUNS SOFTBALL SUMMMER CAMPS

The nationally ranked (Top 10) Ragin' Cajuns softball program, fresh off of an outing at the Women's College World Series, will be hosting its annual summer softball camps at Lady Cajun Park during the month of June.

You saw them go up against the best in the country on national television. Now you can meet and greet them in person and learn tips from some of the best collegiate softball players in the nation.

Head coach Stefni Lotief and her staff will be welcoming girls of all ages for two camps to be held June 9-13 and June 16-20.

The camp will cover all fundamentals of softball. Individual skills including, but not limited to, fielding, hitting, pitching and throwing will be stressed.

Campers will be grouped according to age level and skill level. Team concepts and defense will be taught throughout the Ragin' Cajuns softball camp.

The first camp, June 9-13, will be for residential and commuter participants. The cost for overnight campers is $300 while commuter participants is $180. All overnight campers will be housed in Denbo Dorm on the Louisiana campus.

Camp check-in for overnight participants will be from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Monday June 9. It will take place near the front entrance of the Denbo Dormitory. Commuters can meet and register at 8 a.m. June 10 at Lady Cajun Park.

Overnight participation includes three meals on campus. Commuters will be served lunch only.

A Skills and Drills camp will be offered June 16-20 with two different sessions. The Skills and Drills session will consist of specialized instruction specific to hitting/offense or defensive position work.

Session I will be held from 9 a.m. - Noon and will focus on defense (fielding, throwing, pitching).

Session II will be held from 1-4 p.m. and will focus on hitting and the offensive game.

The Skills and Drills camp will cost $50 per session and all campers are eligible for both sessions.

Campers are asked to bring softball cleats, tennis shoes, softball fielding glove, batting gloves & bat, knee pads, sunscreen, etc.

For more information or to request a camp brochure please visit www.ragincajuns.com and click on the softball page. Questions can also be addressed to the softball office at 337-482-6334 or 337-482-5167 or e-mail the office at lotiefm@bellsouth.net.

CAMP DATES
Ragin' Cajuns Softball Camp/Residential & Commuter
Monday, June 9 - Friday, June 13
Cost: Overnight - $300
Commuters - $180
Location: Lady Cajun Park and adjacent facilities located on Cajundome Blvd.

Ragin' Cajuns Softball Skills & Drills Camp
Monday, June 16 - Friday, June 20
Session I - defense (fielding, throwing, pitching)
9 a.m. - Noon
Session II - hitting/offense
1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Cost: $50 per session (can register for both sessions)
Note: A limited number of participants will be accepted on a first paid-first-serve basis.
Location: Lady Cajun Park and adjacent facilities located on Cajundome Blvd.

LOUISIANA SI

[CDeb]

It would have been nice to have been ranked ahead of a team that we beat and who also went 0-2 in the WCWS.

Looks like they ranked the conferences instead.

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National No. 8 Louisiana takes home four top awards, Stefni Lotief named Coach of the Year

LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team, which advanced to the Women's College World Series last weekend for the fourth time in program history and finished ranked No. 8 in the nation, took home four of the top honors on the 2003 All-Louisiana softball team, sponsored by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA).

Senior All-American Becky McMurtry was named Hitter of the Year, sophomore pitcher Brooke Mitchell was Pitcher of the Year, Danyele Gomez garnered the Freshman of the Year honors while head coach Stefni Lotief was named Coach of the Year.

Louisiana, along with Louisiana State University, placed a state-best six players on the first and second teams, with Northwestern State and Centenary College placing three players each.

Louisiana College and Nicholls State each placed two on one of the two teams, while Louisiana-Monroe, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech placed one player each on either the first or second team.

Nominations for the 2003 All-Louisiana softball team were made by the softball contacts from each school's sports information office. Voting was done by those contacts plus selected media members.

Of the 29 players to earn some recognition on the 2003 All-Louisiana softball team, 11 are residents of Louisiana.

UL third baseman Becky McMurtry was named Hitter of the Year after batting .426 in the regular season with 15 doubles, 13 home runs, and 49 runs batted in.

The senior from Nebraska was also named to the first team at third base, one of four Cajuns voted onto the first team.

McMurtry was also a 2003 NFCA All-American, a member of the 2003 NFCA All-South Region First Team and was named the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Year for the second straight season.

The North Platte, Neb., native ended the season with a .396 average and wrapped up her two-year stay with UL Lafayette batting .402 which set a new career batting average mark besting the .391 of Tiffany Clark
(1997-2000).

McMurtry recently graduated from Louisiana and was named the Most Outstanding Graduate for her college.

McMurtry's teammate Brooke Mitchell, a sophomore pitcher from Pasadena, Texas, was voted Pitcher of the Year.

Mitchell finished the regular season with a 20-6 record and a 0.93 earned run average. She struck out 217 opposing batters in 166 innings of work, tossing a perfect game, two other no-hitters, and four complete-game one-hitters during the season.

Mitchell will be best remembered for her stellar postseason performance which included a no-hitter in the NCAA Tournament opener against San Diego State and 32 strikeouts over 28 1/3 innings during the NCAA Region 6 in Fullerton, Calif.

She also set the school's single-season strikeout record with 279 breaking the old mark of 256 held by Cheryl Longeway and set in 1995.

Danyele Gomez, an outfielder from Metairie, was named Louisiana Freshman of the Year.

She led the Cajuns with 17 home runs and 55 runs batted in during the regular season.

At the College World Series, she hit a home run off of National Player of the Year Cat Osterman in the Cajuns' game against Texas, snapping the USA Softball Player of the Year's streak of 65 consecutive scoreless innings streak.

Gomez's home run total at the end of the season was 20 which set a new school single-season record and marked the first time a Cajuns player ended a season with 20 homers.

Gomez was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, was a 2003 NFCA All-American and was named to the 2003 NFCA All-South Region First Team.

The Cajuns were led by Louisiana Coach of the Year Stefni Lotief, who guided Louisiana to its third straight Sun Belt Conference regular season title and fourth straight SBC Tournament championship.

Lotief was able to lead the team to the College World Series despite having only six upperclassmen on a squad of 18 players. She guided the Cajuns to their first WCWS appearance since 1996 and the first in her
head coaching career.

Lotief's team finished the year 47-11 and qualified for its fifth straight NCAA Tournament since 1999 and 13th in the last 14 years. The 40-win season was the Cajuns fifth straight and 11th in the last 12 seasons.

Designated player Lauren Castle joins McMurtry, Mitchell and Gomez on the All-Louisiana first team. Castle did most of her damage in Sun Belt play, batting .478 with six runs batted in.

Catcher Joy Webre and pitcher Afton Thoms were voted onto the second team.

Webre posted a single-season career best 10 home runs and 34 RBI and picked off five baserunners.

Thoms, a redshirt freshman from Baton Rouge, posted a 13-2 record with a 1.60 ERA in her first season in a Cajuns uniform. She tossed a no-hitter of UL Monroe and picked up two wins in the Western Kentucky series including tossing a shutout in the Cajuns SBC regular season title clinching win.

The All-Louisiana Awards mark the end of the postseason honors for UL.

LOUISIANA SI

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2003 LOUISIANA SPORTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION
ALL-LOUISIANA SOFTBALL TEAM

Position

Catcher
Casey Goodman, UL-Monroe (1st)
Joy Webre, UL (2nd)

First Base
Christy Connor, LSU (1st)
Lindsey Coleman, Nicholls State (2nd)

Second Base
Nicole Martin, Northwestern State (1st)
Trista Helverson, Louisiana College (2nd)

Third Base
Becky McMurtry, UL (1st)
Julie Wiese, LSU (2nd)

Shortstop
Stephenie Denham, McNeese State (1st)
Ashley Walker, SE Louisiana (2nd)

Outfield
Danyele Gomez, UL (1st)
Lindsey Danzy, Northwestern State (1st)
Camille Harris, LSU(1st)

Outfield
Brittany Stanley, Louisiana Tech (2nd)
LaDonia Hughes, LSU (2nd)
Sarina Noack, Northwestern State (2nd)

DP
Lauren Castle, UL (1st)
Janis Kelley, Centenary College (2nd)

Utility Player
Tessa Lynam, LSU(1st)
Lauren Koehn, Centenary College (2nd)

Pitcher
Brooke Mitchell, UL (1st)
Kristin Schmidt, LSU (1st)
Sandi Clark, Louisiana College (1st)

Pitcher
Afton Thoms, UL (2nd)
Dione Meier, Nicholls State (2nd)
Cheyenne Daries, Centenary College (2nd)

HONORABLE MENTION:
C-Karen Smith, SE Louisiana; 2B-Jordan Lansdale,
Centenary College; P-Jessica Denham, McNeese State

HITTER OF THE YEAR:
Becky McMurtry, Louisiana

PITCHER OF THE YEAR:
Brooke Mitchell, Louisiana

NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR:
LaDonia Hughes, LSU and Dione Meier, Nicholls
State (Tied with six votes each)

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Danyele Gomez, Louisiana

COACH OF THE YEAR:
Stefni Lotief, Louisiana

LOUISIANA SI

[CDeb]

Jill Robertson being left off is a crime.