UL - Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns softball team entered the postseason ranked 16th in the top 25, but after their fifth place finish at the Women’s College World Series, UL finished the year ranked sixth according to both the USA Today/NFCA and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Polls.

The sixth place finish marks the first time since the 2004 season that the Cajuns have ended the season ranked in the top 10. The ranking is the highest end of the year ranking for the Cajuns since the 1996 season when the Cajuns finished the year in fifth place. The Ragin’ Cajuns have finished the year ranked seven times in eight years under co-head coaches Michael and Stefni Lotief.

The 2008 NCAA Champion Arizona State Sun Devils were the unanimous top choice for the final Top 25 Polls. National runner-up Texas A&M, which was swept in the best-of-three Championship Series by ASU, ranked second, while the remainder of the WCWS field rounded out the top-eight with No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Louisiana, No. 7 Arizona and No. 8 Virginia Tech holding the remainder of the eight top spots.

The Cajuns ended the year with a 52-15 overall ranking. The 52 wins marked the ninth time in program history UL has amassed 50-plus wins on the year and the sixth time under the Lotiefs.

The Ragin’ Cajuns finished the season with their seventh regular season Sun Belt Conference title; their eighth SBC Tournament championship; their 18th NCAA Regional berth; and their fifth WCWS appearance.

Holly Tankersley (Kirbyville, Texas), who hit the game-winning home run in the eighth inning against No. 1 Florida in the first game of the WCWS, became the program’s 13th first-team All-American and the 36th All-American overall in school history.

Tankersley, Vanessa Soto (San Diego, Calif.) and Ashley Brignac (River Ridge, La.) were all named to the NFCA All-South Region. Tankersley and Soto both were first team, while the true freshman Brignac was named to the second team.

The Ragin’ Cajuns had seven players named All-Sun Belt Conference on the year, with Tankersley, Soto and Brignac taking Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Pitcher of the Year accolades, respectively.

The Cajuns also swept through the All-Louisiana awards, claiming the Player of the Year (Tankersley), Pitcher of the Year (Brignac), Freshman of the Year (Donna Bourgeois – Lafayette, La.) and Coach of the Year (Stefni Lotief) honors, as well as placing a total of nine players on the team.

USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

1. Arizona State (66-5)
2. Texas A&M (57-10)
3. Florida (70-5)
4. Alabama (58-8)
5. UCLA (51-9)
6. Louisiana (52-15)
7. Arizona (41-19)
8. Virginia Tech (49-19)
9. Michigan (52-8)
10. Oklahoma (47-14)

RaginCajuns.com

Chris Whitehead