Five Ragin' Cajun seniors completed a business-like swan song Sunday with a pair of 5-inning shutouts of Middle Tennessee to complete the softball regular season with style.
The quintet of standouts could be back at Ragin' Cajun Park for NCAA Regional or Super Regional play, but if not they gave their fans something to remember with a near-perfect 4-0 weekend of Sun Belt Conference action.
Heather Bobbitt raised her record to 16-0 in the 9-0 opener with help from home runs by Ashley Evans and Brittany Bryant, while Ashley Kirchberg (5-1) fashioned a two-hitter in the 8-0 finale with Danyele Gomez stroking her 18th home run of the season.
The end result was four run-rule shutouts and a special sendoff for Brooke Mitchell, Jill Robertson, Joy Webre, Crystal George and Tiffany Hebert.
"It was a special day," coach Stefni Lotief said. "These are players I have the utmost respect for, both on and off the field, and they're going out in style. The only thing left is to take care of our business in postseason."
Now 47-8 on the season and finishing 19-1 in Sun Belt league play, the Cajuns next travel to Bowling Green, Ky. for the Sun Belt Tournament hosted by Western Kentucky.
They get a bye as the No. 1 seed, then play at 4 p.m. Thursday against the winner of an 11 a.m., first-round game between No. 4 New Mexico State and No. 5 North Texas.
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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com