I'm going to the next home game
1stTake on Louisiana
Ragin' Cajuns Rock
Ragin Cajuns Womens Softball team plays tonight
I'm going to the next home game
. Pitching Gems Highlight Cajuns Sweep of ULM
LOUISIANA SILAFAYETTE – 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.
.
South Louisiana PublishingLa. - 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.
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
.
LOUISIANA vs MTSU
LOUISIANA SILOUISIANA 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.
. Cajuns Dominate Blue Raiders, Record 400th Win All-Time at Lady Cajun Park
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).
LOUISIANA SI
. Cajuns Complete Four-Game Sweep of MT, Extend Win Streak to Nine
LOUISIANA SILOUISIANA 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.
. Sweep completed
Lady Cajuns maintain mastery of Middle Tennessee. South Louisiana PublishingLOUISIANA La. — The beat goes on for Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns.
Coach Stefni Lotief’s squad combined 15 hits with a solid 1-2 punch at pitcher to sweep Middle Tennessee 10-0, 6-3 on Sunday to finish a four-game weekend conquest in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams.
The eighth and ninth straight wins of the season gave Louisiana (24-5, 4-0) its 15th and 16th victories over MT without a loss, as well as a ninth straight Sun Belt twinbill sweep and 18 league victories in a row.
In addition, the Lady Cajuns will be riding a 16-game home win streak when they return to action next weekend against Sun Belt foe New Mexico State.
Freshman Brittany Bryant wielded a big stick for the Cajuns in the opener, going 2-for-3 and driving in five runs, while Becky McMurtry scored three times and Summar Lapeyrouse and Crystal George each collected a pair of RBI.
Sophomore Brooke Mitchell improved to 11-4 with four innings of work, while Afton Thoms finished up the mercy rule-shortened opener with a perfect frame.
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
1stTake on Louisiana
Ragin' Cajuns Rock
The Lady Cajuns ROCK
. BECKY McMURTRY NAMED SUN BELT HITTER OF THE WEEK
Senior All-American extended her season-high hitting streak to 11 games
and scored nine runs as Cajuns went 6-0 last weekLOUISIANA SILOUISIANA La. - For the second time this season, Louisiana's 25th-ranked Lady Cajun softball All-American third baseman Becky McMurtry was named the Sun Belt Conference Hitter of the Week, announced by the league office Monday afternoon.
McMurtry was 7-for-12 with nine runs scored, two doubles, one home run and six RBI last week as the Cajuns swept doubleheaders from La.-Monroe April 2 and Middle Tennessee on April 5 and April 6 giving Louisiana a 6-0 mark.
The North Platte, Neb., native picked up at least one hit in each game last week, extending her season-high hitting streak to 11 games.
McMurtry has collected at least one hit in every game since the March 14 Florida State game in which she hit the game-winning home run. During the streak, she is batting 15-for-26 (.577 avg.) with five doubles, three home runs, 11 runs scored and 11 RBI.
She is currently the Cajuns leading hitter with a .421 average through 29 games. McMurtry leads the Cajuns in runs scored with 32 and is tied for tops in the Sun Belt in that category. Her batting average ranks second in the Sun Belt and her 11 doubles are second to Middle Tennessee's Cortney Mitchell.
McMurtry has recorded astronomical numbers in terms of slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Her slugging percentage is .882 while her on-base percentage climbed to .554 after this past week's action. She has walked 17 times and struck out just nine times in 101 plate appearances this season.
Last week her slugging percentage was 1.000 and her on-base percentage was .714. For the week she drew five walks and did not strike out once in 21 plate appearances.
McMurtry also played errorless ball allowing her to extend her streak of games without an error to 19 straight - a span of 59 chances. She has committed only four errors all season long in 100 chances for a .960 fielding percentage.
McMurtry was 5-for-9 over the weekend against Middle Tennessee with seven runs scored in the four-game set. She was 2-for-4 with four runs scored in Sunday's sweep of the Blue Raiders. She was 2-for-3 with three RBI, a home run and two runs scored in the ULM doubleheader.
Since joining Louisiana's softball program in 2002, McMurtry is hitting .410 (112-for-273) which would stand as a school record for career batting average if the season were to end today. She is chasing Tiffany Clark's .391 career mark. Last season McMurtry hit .406.
Her 32 runs scored this season give her 90 as a Ragin' Cajun and 146 for her four-year career (scored 56 runs in two seasons at Illinois State).
McMurtry and her Lady Cajun teammates will take a break from action this week as no midweek contests are scheduled.
The 25th-ranked Lady Cajuns will be back in action this weekend as they host New Mexico State (7-40, 0-4 Sun Belt) in battle of the first and last place teams in the Sun Belt Saturday and Sunday at Lady Cajun Park. The twinbills will begin at 1 p.m. each afternoon.
. Lady Cajuns Gain Ground In NFCA Poll, Enter ESPN.com/usa Sofball Poll
Louisiana ranked No. 22 in ESPN poll.
Move up to No. 21 in NFCA rankingsLOUISIANA SILOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Lady Cajun softball team is picking up steam on the playing field. They're also making strides in the rankings.
Louisiana's Lady Cajuns softball team gained significant ground in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll and joined the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25, as both polls were released Tuesday afternoon.
The Cajuns (24-5, 4-0 Sun Belt) jumped four spots to No. 21 from the previous week in the NFCA poll in which they were ranked 25th. Louisiana earned 106 votes compared to 39 last week - a 67 point gain. It is the highest ranking for the Cajuns this season.
The Cajuns, who had been receiving votes throughout the season, entered the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll at No. 22. The Cajuns are tied with South Florida in the weekly poll which debuted this season. This week's ranking marks Louisiana's first in the newly formed poll.
Last week Louisiana went 6-0 with doubleheader sweeps of UL-Monroe and Middle Tennessee. The Cajuns opened Sun Belt play over the weekend, sweeping MT in four games to extend their season-high win streak to nine games and home win streak to 16.
Louisiana owns two wins over teams ranked in the Top 25. The Cajuns defeated No. 14 Florida State (30-9) 3-0 at the KIA Klassic and No. 17 Alabama (32-13) 2-0 at home on March 27. Louisiana also hung tough with No. 4 Oklahoma, limiting the Sooners to one hit and falling 1-0 on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.
No. 21 Louisiana will return to action on Saturday, April 12 in a 1 p.m. doubleheader against New Mexico State (7-40, 0-4 Sun Belt). The twinbill is the opening games of a four-game Sun Belt series with the Aggies. The series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Quote