UL - If competing with the greatest softball team in the world is worth anything, then Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns have the makings of something special.

The U.S. Olympic Softball Team defeated the Lady Cajuns by a final score of 1-0 on an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth in Fullerton, Calif. back on Mar. 20, and 2-0, thanks to a pair of unearned runs, on Apr. 19 at McMurry Park in Sulphur. Both games were stops on the team’s Bound 4 Beijing Tour.

Louisiana is the only school to face the Olympic team twice this year and is one of 10 teams currently ranked in the top 25 by the NFCA to square off against the Olympians.

For the purposes of this discussion, it’s only fair to compare the results of Team USA versus ranked opponents since the defending gold medalists have pummeled inferior competition – holding a 16-0 record and outscoring those opponents by a combined margin of 188-3 (USA scored an average of nearly 12 runs per game and allowed a run in only one of the 16 games).

It’s not like ranked teams have faired much better, as Team USA is 10-1 and has outscored the Top 25 by a combined margin of 88-8. The lone defeat – a 1-0 loss vs. Virginia Tech – came at the hands of the Hokies’ senior pitcher Angela Tincher. Tincher is no stranger to the Olympic lineup though, as she took part in the Olympic tryout process last summer.

What the Cajuns have done is kept the most feared hitters in softball at bay for 16 innings – not allowing a single earned run. All with a sophomore and two true freshmen in the circle!

Cajuns sophomore Brittany Cuevas (Brazoria, Texas) allowed just four hits over nine innings in the first meeting between UL and USA. Freshmen Donna Bourgeois (Lafayette, La.) and Ashley Brignac (River Ridge, La.) allowed a combined four hits over seven innings this past Saturday vs. Team USA.

Team USA’s designated player, cleanup batter, and arguably the most intimidating hitter on the planet, Crystal Bustos, went a combined 0-for-7 against the Cajuns trio, with a pair of strikeouts. Not counting the two games vs. UL, Bustos is hitting .475 on the Olympic tour with only eight strikeouts in 21 games.

“The Cajuns pitching staff is one of the best we’ve faced since going on tour,” Bustos said. “They have great futures ahead of them as long as they continue to work hard and get better.

“A lot of times you see pitchers that think they are good and don’t work to progress and make their game better. I hope that they don’t sit back on how good they are now. My advice to them is to keep pushing to get better.”

Against the Top 25, not including the two contests against the Cajuns, Bustos’ average stands at .409.

“Out in California, Cuevas was moving the ball pretty good,” Bustos added. “It was the first time we’d seen a good pitcher in a while.”

Team USA had scored 54 runs in the four games prior to defeating the Cajuns 1-0 on Mar 20.

“Those freshmen could be the best pitchers in the country when they are seniors,” Bustos stated.

Also impressed with the Cajuns pitching staff was Mike Candrea, head coach for USA Softball.

"They are young and fearless," Candrea said. “They move the ball around well and throw strikes.”

Of the 59 Team USA batters faced by Cuevas, Brignac and Bourgeois, the trio yielded only one walk.

“We've seen a lot of young pitchers on this tour,” Candrea added. “There's no one in the country with three better ones than the Cajuns.

"That group is going to be a lot of fun to watch for the next several years.”

Many of the record crowd of 4,162 came to watch the Olympic team, but most surely walked away with a newfound appreciation for the talented and feisty Ragin’ Cajuns.


RaginCajuns.com

Chris Whitehead