The Book: 2003 Softball

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LAFAYETTE — Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns softball team left Wednesday for the 2003 KIA Klassic, which runs today through Sunday at Cal State-Fullerton in Fullerton, Calif.

The Cajuns (14-2) will face their toughest challenges of the young season in their ninth straight appearance in the KIA Klassic, one of the most prestigious regular-season events in college softball.

This year’s Klassic features nine teams ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll — six of which are in the Top 10.

Louisiana’s first appearance in 1994 produced a tournament championship.

The tournament gets under way with pool play today. Louisiana is a member of Pool D and is paired with No. 2 Arizona (26-2), No. 16 Florida State (18-7) and Long Beach State (9-12).

Both Arizona and FSU made it to the semifinals of the 2002 Women’s College World Series, with Arizona advancing to the title game.

Once pool play is over on Friday the teams will be paired in brackets according to their finish in pool play.

The Lady Cajuns will play at 1 p.m. (CST) today against Long Beach State (9-12), and will also match up with the second-ranked Wildcats at 5 p.m. (CST).

Louisiana and Arizona are meeting each other in pool play for the third straight season. The Lady Cajuns will conclude pool play on Friday at 11 a.m. (CST) against FSU.

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South Louisiana Publishing
Staff Reports
Louisiana SI

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FULLERTON, Calif. — Senior Becky McMurtry hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to help propel Louisiana to a 3-0 win over No. 16 Florida State Friday in the final game of pool play for both teams in the 2003 KIA Klassic hosted by Cal State Fullerton.

Later Friday, Oklahoma’s Erin Evans hit a bloop single to left field in the bottom of the sixth to break up Brooke Mitchell’s no-hitter.

Evans then stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a Leah Gulla sacrifice fly as sixth-ranked Oklahoma (24-3) escaped with a narrow 1-0 win over the Cajuns (15-5).

The loss in the first game of bracket play drops Louisiana into the consolation bracket at 3 p.m. (CST) today against the loser of Hawaii and Fresno State’s bracket game. It will be the Lady Cajuns’ final game in the tournament.

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South Louisiana Publishing

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LAFAYETTE — Louisiana softball coach Stefni Lotief announced Friday that a doubleheader with Louisiana Tech on Monday has been added to the team’s schedule.

The Lady Cajuns (15-5) will travel to Ruston on Monday for a 4 p.m. doubleheader with the Lady Techsters at the Lady Techsters Softball Complex located on the La. Tech campus.

It will be the Lady Cajuns first action in 10 days. They have been off since Friday, March 14 following the KIA Klassic.

Following Monday’s games, Louisiana will return home to begin a 16-game homestand. The stretch, which will conclude the Lady Cajuns 2003 home schedule and run through April 17, begins on Thursday, March 27 at 7 p.m. in a single game against SEC-member Alabama.

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LAFAYETTE — The 25th-ranked Louisiana Lady Cajuns will open their season-long 16-game homestand today at Lady Cajun Park in a 7 p.m. single-game softball showdown against No. 16 Alabama.

The game will be carried live on SportsRadio ESPN 1420-KPEL AM in the La. area. Jay Walker and Steve Peloquin will call of the action live from Lady Cajun Park beginning at 6:45 p.m.

The Lady Cajuns (15-5) enter the game fresh off of their first ranking of the 2003 season and will be playing their first contest in 13 days.

Louisiana last played on Friday, March 14 at the KIA Klassic against then-No. 6 Oklahoma, falling 1-0 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth.

The Lady Cajuns are 10-1 at home this season, including 7 straight, and have taken 110 of the last 122 dating back to 1999. The Cajuns are 58-8 (.879) at home under coach Stefni Lotief.

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South Louisiana Publishing
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

[Turbine]

Louisiana vs Alabama

I am just out of radio range, and can't hook up on the internet.

What I think I heard is the score in the top of the 5th is . . .

Louisiana 1
Alabama 0

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LAFAYETTE — Hits and runs were at a premium Thursday night at Lady Cajun Park, and Brooke Mitchell made sure Louisiana didn't need much of either one.

Mitchell limited No. 16 Alabama to one hit and struck out seven as the Lady Cajuns scored a 2-0 victory to improve to 16-5 on the season.

The Crimson Tide, which used three pitchers in anticipation of its weekend series at SEC rival LSU, dropped to 25-11 despite allowing just four hits by the home team.

“I think our kids looked at it as a great opportunity at home,” coach Stefni Lotief said of her No. 25 Lady Cajuns. “They wanted to go out and have fun. They were loose, and I knew they were going to play every pitch.
“Brooke was just phenomenal. She and (catcher) Joy (Webre) work so well together. She was in total control of the game.”

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South Louisiana Publishing
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[1stTake]

I'm going to the next home game

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LAFAYETTE – Sophomore pitcher Brooke Mitchell recorded her third straight one-hitter and redshirt freshman Afton Thoms notched her first career no-hitter, and the third no-no for the Cajuns staff this season, as Louisiana-Lafayette cruised to a 5-1, 9-0 (5 innings) softball doubleheader sweep of in-state rival UL Monroe here Wednesday evening at Lady Cajun Park.

With the sweep, the Cajuns (20-5) increased their home winning streak to 12 games and their overall win streak to five games.

The Cajuns also moved within one win of 400 all-time at Lady Cajun Park. In 18-plus seasons, UL Lafayette has posted a 399-69 (.853) record in their beloved confines. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 63-8 at Lady Cajun Park under head coach Stefni Lotief and have won 115 of the last 127 games played here since 1999.

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LOUISIANA SI

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La. - LOUISIANA had three times as many home runs as UL Monroe had hits on Wednesday, and the result was a predictable 5-1, 9-0 doubleheader sweep before 327 fans at Lady Cajun Park.

All three homers came in the first game in support of a Brooke Mitchell one-hitter, while Afton Thoms twirled a no-hitter in the nightcap, which was called by mercy rule after five innings.

The Lady Cajuns improved to 20-5 on the season, while the visiting Indians dropped to 14-22.

It was a perfect midweek tune-up for this weekend’s start of Sun Belt Conference play, as Middle Tennessee hits town for a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. UL Monroe has been a competitive rival for the Cajuns, so Wednesday’s dominance was a good sign.

“Monroe always comes ready to play,” coach Stefni Lotief said. “I thought our players showed a lot of composure in focusing on the situation.

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South Louisiana Publishing
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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LOUISIANA La. – The 25th-ranked Lady Cajuns of Louisiana softball team will open defense of its back-to-back Sun Belt Conference regular season championships beginning Saturday at 2 p.m. in a twinbill with Middle Tennessee at Lady Cajun Park.

The doubleheader is the first of two scheduled with the Blue Raiders on opening weekend in Sun Belt Conference play. The two teams will conclude the series Sunday at Noon with a second doubleheader.

Louisiana (20-5), champions of the league in 2001 and 2002, are the only champions that the SBC has known since the league began sponsoring softball in the 2001 regular season. The Cajuns are 34-2 all-time in SBC regular season play (15-1 at home).

The Lady Cajuns will enter the doubleheader on Saturday, riding a 12-game home win streak and a five-game win streak overall. Louisiana is continuing its season-long 16-game homestand, which runs through April 17, and is currently 5-0 thus far.

Saturday could be a special day for the program. Louisiana enters the doubleheader needing just one win to reach the 400-win plateau in Lady Cajun Park history. The Cajuns are 399-69 all-time in 18-plus seasons in their friendly confines. MT was on hand for the 350th Lady Cajun Park win on March 31, 2001 in the first game of a doubleheader.

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LOUISIANA SI

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LOUISIANA La. – The 25th-ranked Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns softball team opened defense of its back-to-back Sun Belt Conference regular season championships with a 12-4 (6 innings), 5-0 sweep of Middle Tennessee’s Blue Raiders here Saturday afternoon at Lady Cajun Park on the opening day of the Sun Belt softball season.

No. 25 Louisiana (22-5, 2-0 Sun Belt) exploded for seven runs in the opening frame of the first game and then rode the arm of sophomore ace pitcher Brooke Mitchell to the shutout win in the nightcap. Mitchell picked up both wins for the Cajuns in the circle as the Cajuns extended their overall winning streak to seven games, tying a season-high, and extended their home win streak to 14 straight.

The Cajuns 12-4 win in game one was the 400th win all-time at Lady Cajun Park since the facility opened in 1985. Louisiana is 401-69 (.853) in its beloved confines and 65-8 under coach Stefni Lotief. Since the 1999 season, the Cajuns have won 117 of the last 129 games played at the park.

With the sweep, the Cajuns swept their 10th straight doubleheader dating back to last season’s split with UL Monroe on April 24. The Cajuns have swept 16 of their last 17 doubleheaders overall and have now swept eight straight Sun Belt twinbills.

Louisiana has now won 16 straight Sun Belt games dating back to last season while the Blue Raiders (17-12, 0-2 Sun Belt) saw their five-game SBC win streak halted.

Louisiana now leads the all-time series 14-0 and improves to 36-2 all-time in Sun Belt play (17-1 at Lady Cajun Park).

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LOUISIANA SI

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LOUISIANA La. – The 25th-ranked Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns softball team completed its four-game sweep of Middle Tennessee here Sunday afternoon by taking both ends of the doubleheader from the Blue Raiders 10-0 and 6-3 at Lady Cajun Park the Sun Belt Conference series finale between the two teams.

With the four-game sweep, No. 25 Louisiana (24-5, 4-0 Sun Belt) extended its season-high winning streak to nine games and swept a doubleheader for the 11th straight time.

The Cajuns also extended their SBC winning streak to 18 games and improve to 38-2 all-time in league play since it began in 2001.

Once again the Cajuns offense came alive in the early stages of the game and a solid pitching effort from Brooke Mitchell stifled the Blue Raiders (17-14, 0-4 Sun Belt).

The Cajuns scored 11 runs in the first three innings of both games of the twinbill combined and Mitchell delivered two more one-hit outings.

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LOUISIANA SI