Louisiana in TOP-25 of ESPN/USA Softball Preseason Poll
Louisiana Softball will start Year No. 7 of the Gerry Glasco era among the group of teams ranked in the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 preseason rankings.
ESPN/USA Softball released its first ranking for the upcoming 2024 collegiate softball season on Tuesday (Jan. 23, 2024), with Louisiana listed at No. 21 in the poll.
UL has now been listed in every edition of the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason poll, which was first published in 2006.
It's the third preseason ranking for the Ragin' Cajuns (50-16, 22-2 Sun Belt) who are coming off an NCAA Super Regional appearance and fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championships.
The latest preseason ranking adds to the No. 21 slot that Louisiana landed at in the D1Softball Preseason Top 25 poll (Jan. 16) and the No. 23 starting spot awarded by Softball America (Jan. 11).
Five of the Ragin' Cajuns 2024 season opponents appear in the ESPN.com/USA Softball: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Stanford, No. 5 Texas, No. 15 LSU and No. 19 Baylor. An additional five foes are receiving votes including McNeese, Liberty, Miami University, Mississippi State and Central Arkansas.
Louisiana, an NCAA Tournament participant and 40-plus game winner each year since 1999, begins the 2024 season at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park from Thursday-Sunday, February 8-11 hosting the 38th Annual Louisiana Classics highlighted by a visit from Pac-12 member California.
The official season opener is set for Thursday, Feb. 8 at 6:00 p.m., when the Ragin' Cajuns begin play in the Louisiana Classics with a matchup against Chattanooga.
To view the complete 2024 season schedule, click here.
ABOUT LOUISIANA
Louisiana (50-16, 22-2 Sun Belt in 2023) is coming off a fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championship, the program's 24th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, a No. 9 RPI rating, a Top 20 finish across the board in all major national polls, and a trip to the NCAA Super Regional round last spring.
With a now veteran-laden roster, as head coach Gerry Glasco's No. 1 recruiting Class of 2022 now enters their junior campaign, plus the key summer transfer additions highlighted by the Florida duo of Lexie Delbrey and Sam Roe, there's plenty reason enough for heightened expectations in the coming spring season.
This season the Ragin' Cajuns welcome a pair of new faces to the coaching staff in defensive coach Hunter Veach and hitting coach Shellie Landry, an All-American alumnae who competed for the program from 2013-16. Their addition provides Glasco with a specific coach for every facet of the game, to go along with pitching coach Justin Robichaux.
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Re: Louisiana in TOP-25 of ESPN/USA Softball Preseason Poll
Originally Posted by Scott Malkinson
