The No. 25-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball team seeks to maintain its lead in the Sun Belt standings when the squad hosts Texas State (26-15-1, 6-4-1 SBC) in another key three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park from Friday-Sunday, April 14-16.
>> The Texas State matchup continues Louisiana's four-week stretch of conference series that will have implications on the Sun Belt title race. The Ragin' Cajuns started the challenging stretch with sweeps of James Madison and South Alabama the past two weekends which vaulted the squad into first place in the standings.
>> Louisiana seeks to extend its Sun Belt Conference win streak which stands at six straight games. The Bobcats carry an SBC win streak of their own into the series, having won five straight.
>> The Ragin' Cajuns return to the scene of an impressive Sun Belt sweep of South Alabama in which the squad hit .356, outscored the Jags 17-5, held a 26-13 edge in hits and launched seven (7) home runs over Easter Weekend at Lamson Park.
>> Louisiana's bats have heated up in Sun Belt play to the tune of a .337 average and 36 extra base hits (16 doubles, 3 triples, 17 home runs) over 12 games. Leading the charge is Laney Credeur (.560, 4 HR, 10 RBI) and Karly Heath (.538, 4 HR, 7 RBI).
>> Louisiana carries a streak of 77 consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won into the USA series – the nation's longest active streak of consecutive conference series won, which dates back to March 2013.
>> The Texas State series wraps up Spring Break week for the Ragin' Cajuns which began with the midweek trip to the state of Texas to face Top 25 foes Baylor and Texas A&M.
>> Over the past two seasons (2021-22) the Bobcats have captured at least one game in the SBC series with the Ragin' Cajuns. In the last visit to Lamson, Texas State won the series opener forcing Louisiana to win back-to-back to keep its SBC series win streak alive.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Series Record: Louisiana leads, 45-8
Sun Belt Regular Season Games: Louisiana leads, 19-5
Last Meeting: 5/14/22 // LA 7, TXST 1 (Mobile, Ala.)
At Lamson Park: Louisiana leads, 22-5
Last Time at Lamson Park: 4/18/21 // LA 8, TXST 0 (6)
Streak: Louisiana, +2
>> 9th Sun Belt series, overall, and 5th at Lamson Park since Texas State joined the conference (2014).
>> Ragin' Cajuns won each previous series and hold a 19-5 edge in SBC regular season games.
>> Louisiana's current two-game series win streak began with back-to-back wins in the 2022 SBC Tournament in Mobile that led to the Cajuns third straight tournament title.
>> In the last two series at Lamson Park (2018, 2021) the Ragin' Cajuns came away victorious with the series win on the line, keeping alive SBC series won streak.
>> Two programs met for SBC Tournament championship each year from 2016-18, sparking a newfound rivalry in the league.
>> Series began with a doubleheader at Lamson Park in February 1986. Louisiana won the first 12 meetings prior to a 4-2 Texas State win April 19, 2000.
NUMBERS TO KNEAUX
0.93: ERA posted bySam Landry over her last six appearances (four starts) since April 1 (span of 22-2/3 innings).
2: Louisiana's pitching staff has lowered its ERA nearly two full points since the Clearwater Invitational (from 4.13 to 2.39).
4: As of April 12, Mihyia Davis ranked No. 4 nationally in stolen bases with 34 swipes.
5: The Ragin' Cajuns offense has produced at least five base hits in all but three of 42 games this season.
5: Number of home runs hit byLaney Credeur in the last five games (hitting .625 during the stretch).
.560: Team-leading batting average in Sun Belt play posted by Laney Credeur (14-of-25, 4 HR, 10 RBI).
6: Prior to Sunday vs. South Alabama, Louisiana had scored in the first inning in six consecutive games during its seven-game winning streak.
10: Number of home runs the Cajuns hit last week over the McNeese and South Alabama games.
10: There are 10 different players who have posted at least one home run for the Ragin' Cajuns.
11: Team-leading home run total for Karly Heath, two shy of her career-high total (13 in 2022).
11: Mihyia Davis' active hitting streak of 11 games is the longest posted by a Ragin' Cajuns this season.
17: Number of non-conference games played against Power 5 competition (six matchups at the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational).
21: Number of times (in 42 games) that the Ragin' Cajuns have scored in the first inning.
23: Number of RBI generated since March 1 by freshman Lauren Allred.
32: Number of times the Ragin' Cajuns have scored the game's first run (28-4 record).
54: Combined RBI generated in Sun Belt play by the grouping of Lauren Allred, Laney Credeur, Stormy Kotzelnick, Alexa Langeliers and Sophie Piskos.
77: Consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won, a streak that dates back to March 2013.
109: Season strikeout total posted by Meghan Schorman marking a second straight season surpassing 100.
1,825: Louisiana's number of all-time program victories (1981-present) which ranks No. 5 in NCAA D1 Softball history.
3,669: Days that will have passed since Louisiana's streak of consecutive Sun Belt series won (now 77 straight) began once the Texas State series begins.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana wraps up its brief four-game homestand on Tuesday, April 18 hosting Southeastern Louisiana in a 6:00 p.m. contest at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park. The matchup with the Lions marks the final midweek home game of the season.
Following the Southeastern contest, the Ragin' Cajuns travel to Troy, Alabama for a three-game Sun Belt series with the Troy Trojans. The weekend set in Troy is scheduled to run from Friday-Sunday, April 21-23 with all games televised on ESPN+ at 6:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m., respectively.