Lady Cajuns to Arizona

[UAFan]

As a College Softball fan and a big UA Softball fan, I must say that Louisiana-Lafayette is a team that really scares me. They have an excellent pitcher in Brooke Mitchell, and although they haven't played a particularly tough schedule, Team USA was only able to beat Mitchell by a score of 3-0.

One of your losses was to UA at the Kia Klassic (2-0). Mitchell took the loss, but gave up only 3 hits. Fortunately, for us, UA was able to bunch all of our hits in the same inning. Hollowell took the win, nearly pitching a perfect game. I am really looking forward to the Hollowell vs. Mitchell contest. It will be a great game to watch between two great pitchers, even if it is at 2:00 PM when it is 100 degrees in the shade!

The Ragin' Cajuns are ranked number 9 in both college polls. How this team is not a number two seed in some regional is completely beyond me. It is absolutely ludicrous that they should be a fifth seed! They are seeded below 24 teams that are either unranked or ranked below them in both polls! Granted the seedings are not done according to the polls, but this is an outrageous insult to both Louisiana-Lafayette and College Softball.

It is too bad that one of these two teams will not make it to the WCWS. In any other regional, Louisiana-Lafayette would definitely have a great chance of making it to the WCWS. Having said that, I don't wish to imply that you can't win this region (1). You will definitely present the greatest challenge UA has faced in a regional in a long time. I always feel that to be the best, you must beat the best. I think that Arizona will really look forward to playing a team as good as Louisiana-Lafayette in the regionals, and that we will be focused and determined to play our best. If we make it through this regional, we will definitely be ready for the competition in Oklahoma City. I wish you the best of luck, but hope UA will come out on top.

PS. A big Hello to all my friends and family back in New Orleans!

[snote]

greetings UAFan

new orleans to tuscon heh? two kinds of heat..
i heard that before from those back east.. when i was out there for some time .. got tired of telling them.. "110 degrees is 110 degrees" (smiles)
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i like that- all i read and hear from the cajun girls and their coaches is the thinking 'there's no crying in softball' and they will take their opportunity and run with it.. as far as us fans.. we cry all the time (smiling)

the girls rpi/sos/etc works against them but all they can do is line up and play whomever is in front of them.. (they were a number 4 seed last year and made it to oklahoma city)

i wish them luck and will enjoy listening to the games..

ps. i never can remember.. is it "s before c except after u" tuscon or tucson.. ? (grins)

[DieHard1280]

What gets me is the fact that the Cajuns were hopeful for a top-eight seed, (although I would have been shocked if they had gotten one)and they not only didn't get that, but they were shafted with a 5 seed (which translates into anywhere from the 33rd to 42nd spot in the tourney) and were sent to arguably the toughest region in the tournament. Something is not right about that to put it lightly. This stinks!

[RaginFan2]

"ps. i never can remember.. is it "s before c except after u" tuscon or tucson.. ? (grins)"

Yes, "s before c EXCEPT after u"! "Tucson" (grins)

[Cajun Express]

diehard, i think it translates to 40th as the number one seed is supposed to get the weakest seed of each group. 8 x 5 = 40th. you just gotta think arizona is wondering who they ticked off.

[1stTake]

Originally posted by cajun_express
diehard, i think it translates to 40th as the number one seed is supposed to get the weakest seed of each group. 8 x 5 = 40th. you just gotta think arizona is wondering who they ticked off.

Yeah but the highest 5 is a 33. Surely you are not suggesting the Cajuns are a low 5?

[CajunCharlie]

It is the same old BS.....strength of schedule, RPI, blah,blah,blah. So who of the BCS schools want to play us outside of tournaments? None really want to because they know full well the outcome will not be in their favor. Especially if they play us at home. No one takes that into consideration. We played in the FSU tournament and came out #1. We played out West in the KIA tournament and got the shaft there, because the game against the USA Olympic team was counted as a tournament game for us, but not for any of the other teams in the tournament. That was right after we lost to UA 2-0. Those two losses bumped us out of the tournament. Frankly, the WKU representative on the selection committee did not do us any favors. If she did she has not said a word about how she spoke up for us

[NewsCopy]

Softball Meets No. 9 Louisiana in NCAA Tournament
Gamecocks look to snap two-game losing streak

TUCSON, Ariz. - South Carolina softball received a second life Sunday thanks to the NCAA Softball Committee and will get the chance to play in their sixth straight NCAA Tournament beginning May 20. The Gamecocks (27-22) will take on the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana (55-6) Thursday at 5 p.m. (EDT) at Hillenbrand Stadium on the campus of the University of Arizona. USC is the No. 4 seed while the Ragin Cajuns are the No. 5 seed.

This marks the 14th appearance for the Gamecock program to the tournament. Against La.-Lafayette, USC is just 4-20 with their last meeting coming in 1999. South Carolina lost the 1-0 decision.

The Ragin Cajuns earned an automatic bid as they won the Sun Belt Conference tournament and went 18-0 in the conference. Holly Tankersley leads the way for La.-Lafayette with a .354 average and 20 home runs. Tankersley also leads the team in RBI's with 48 followed by Danyele Gomez with 47. On the pitching side, Brooke Mitchell has an impressive 0.55 ERA with a 41-3 record and 484 strikeouts.

The source of the story

[NewsCopy]

Lady Gamecocks earn NCAA Bid

COLUMBIA -- After the University of South Carolina was eliminated in two games in the Southeastern Conference tournament, senior pitcher Stacey Johnson cried. She couldn't help it. She feared her career was over. Would a 27-22 record - the worst in coach Joyce Compton's 18 years at USC - be good enough to land the Gamecocks their sixth straight NCAA appearance and 14th overall?

"I was one of the seniors crying, thinking, 'God, that could be my last game I ever pitched,' " Johnson said. "It was overwhelming to think I'll never be able to play softball again." As it turned out, Johnson need not have worried. USC earned an NCAA bid. That's the good news. The bad news is USC has been put in the same bracket with the No. 1 team in the nation for the third straight season.

The source of the story

[Turbine]

Originally posted by NewsCopy
I was surprised because I felt we had to do something in the (SEC) tournament," she said. "But then again ... we had a lot of really good wins this year. I think our early season competition and then competition in the SEC definitely propelled us to get in."

It's a weird game when losing is irrelevant.

USC did get 11 Out-of-Conference wins vs Charlotte, *North Carolina, Middle Tenn St, College of Charleston, Radford, Princeton, Arizona State, and *Michigan, and 2 losses vs #3 seed Fresno and #1 seed Florida State.

1 of their OC wins was vs #6 seed North Carolina and another was vs #1 seed Michigan.

My point is just because they played a couple of #1 seeds they didn't get any more wins vs #1 seeds than Louisiana did. Their O-o-C schedule was no stronger than Louisiana, then they got trounced in the SEC.

So when SEC teams beat up on them in conference why should the SEC teams be given extra credit, or why should the lose be given extra credit?