#14 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball travels to meet Troy in a key Sun Belt series Sunday-Monday, April 11-12 at the Troy Softball Complex. Play begins at 1 p.m. each day live on ESPN+.

The series was originally scheduled to begin Friday, April 9, but forecasted inclement weather in the Troy area prompted a delay.

The Trojans sit atop the Sun Belt standings, undefeated through 10 games. The Ragin' Cajuns are only one game back in the loss column.

It's the first of back-to-back pivotal Sun Belt series that will determine the league's front-runner. Next week, Louisiana hosts Texas State which was also undefeated in league play entering the weekend.

Louisiana is concluding its 10-game Spring Break road trip that began with a series sweep of Georgia State over Easter Weekend and continued with a sweep of three consecutive days of play in Texas.

Both Louisiana (14 games) and Troy (10 games) put lengthy win streaks on the line. It's the Ragin' Cajuns longest win streak since the record-setting, 29-game streak of the 2019 season.

THIS 'N THAT
In the last visit to Troy (March 2018), the Ragin' Cajuns claimed an 11-inning marathon and rallied from a five-run deficit in Game 2 of the series-opening doubleheader – a sequence of events which kept alive the current streak of consecutive SBC series won.

Louisiana and Troy will test each other's strengths. The squads rank No. 1 and No. 3 in the Sun Belt in hitting and pitching, respectively.

The Ragin' Cajuns pitching staff has surrendered just 12 extra base hits and a .177 opposing average through 79 innings of Sun Belt play.

Since the March 20 loss at UTA, the pitching staff has held opponents to 18 runs (14 earned), 53 hits and a .165 average over the last 90 innings.

Louisiana is batting .399, outscoring foes 75-11, has an 81-26 edge in hits and has produced 33 extra base hits on the current road trip.

The 12 hits on Wednesday at Houston marked the sixth time in seven games on the road trip the Ragin' Cajuns reached double figures.

Nine times in the past 11 games Louisiana has homered at least once, totaling 19 home runs (of the season's 41 total home runs).

During her 13-game hitting streak (the longest of her collegiate career), Kendall Talley is batting a team-leading .500 (19-for-38).

Ciara Bryan's latest hitting streak of 10 games marks her second double-digit hitting streak of the season. She had a career-best, 17-game streak from Feb. 26-March 27.

In her last two Sun Belt Conference starts, Kandra Lamb retired the side in order 11 times over 13 innings (Game 1 vs. GS, Game 2 vs. GSU).

Summer Ellyson has yielded just three earned runs over the last 36-1/3 innings pitched in Sun Belt play.

SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: Louisiana leads, 39-6
In Troy: Louisiana leads, 15-4
Last Meeting: 3/17/19 // LA 8, TROY 0 (5) (Lamson Park)
Streak: Louisiana, +3

Series Notables
- 15th Sun Belt series; Louisiana claimed the series win each of previous 14 occurrences.
- Since 2012, the Ragin' Cajuns have won 20 of the last 22 meetings in the series.
- First met in DH at Lamson Park in April '97, but not again until Troy joined SBC (2006).

NUMBERS TO KNEAUX
19: The Ragin' Cajuns have claimed 19 of their 29 wins on the road (16 true road; 3 neutral)
44: Number of extra base hits Louisiana has recorded during its current 14-game win streak
35: Ciara Bryan has reached base all 35 games. She sports a team-best .504 on base percentage
60: Dating back to March 2013, the Ragin' Cajuns have won 60 consecutive conference series – the nation's longest active streak
24-0: Louisiana's record when scoring five or more runs in a game this season
1.09: The pitching staff's ERA during the current 14-game win streak (spans 90 innings)

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Infield: The Ragin' Cajuns have one of the best infield units in the country, and it may have been strengthened further by the adjustments made during the final week of March. Returning shortstop Alissa Dalton remains the anchor of the unit with her astounding range at shortstop. Sure-handed defender Kaitlyn Alderink switched sides and moved to third base (from second base) to assist Dalton in locking down the left side. Jade Gortarez has settled in at second base after starting the year on the left side alternating between third and shortstop. Melissa Mayeux took over at first base in the new-look alignment, but expect Justice Milz to see time at the position as well.

Outfield: Returning center fielder Raina O'Neal (hit .329 with nearly 30 extra base hits previous two seasons) is out for the regular season with an injury. Ciara Bryan has taken over in center field and continues to be one of most dynamic hitters in the nation. Kendall Talley closed March with a six-game hitting streak and seems to have claimed the left field slot. Right field has been a rotation of Jenna Kean, who adds elite speed to the base path, Karly Heath, and Julie Rawls who provides veteran experience for late-game adjustments.

Pitchers: Efforts in the circle are led by Summer Ellyson once again. She led the nation in wins (39) in 2019, and was off to an 11-1 start (1.83 ERA) in 2020 with wins over Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Florida. Kandra Lamb emerged as the front-runner for the No. 2 spot following solid outings in her first career starts against ranked teams (at Louisiana State, vs. Oklahoma State). Casey Dixon, Vanessa Foreman and Karly Heath provide added depth and options to shorten innings pitched for Ellyson and Lamb.

Catchers: Julie Rawls, the mainstay from the past two seasons, is joined by Bailey Curry who trained at the position in preseason practice and freshman Sophie Piskos who was called into duty the last week of March due to an injury with Rawls. Curry and Piskos allow for a rotation that can keep Rawls' legs rested for the postseason. Rawls has led Louisiana in slugging percentage the past two seasons.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
No. 14 Louisiana opens its lone homestand of April on Tuesday, April 13 when Southeastern Louisiana visits Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park for a 6 p.m. single game. The contest with the Lions, a rematch of a 9-1 Ragin' Cajuns win back on Feb. 21 in Birmingham at the UAB Blazer Classic, marks the first of five consecutive home games.

Following the SLU matchup, the homestand continues Friday-Sunday, April 16-18 when Texas State visits Lamson Park for another Sun Belt series that will have a determining factor in the conference's regular season title race. The entire series will be carried live on ESPN+ with game times set for 6 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and Noon on Sunday.

The five-game stretch of home games concludes on Tuesday, April 20 with a 4 p.m. single game against Louisiana Tech, a makeup for a contest originally scheduled for March 24 but was postponed by inclement weather.