University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Host Southern Mississippi Sunday at 2 p.m.
3/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Cajuns
Host Southern Mississippi Sunday at 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 8, 2003
LAFAYETTE – The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team will host Southern Mississippi in a 2 p.m. doubleheader here Sunday at Lady Cajun Park.
The Cajuns (10-2) are coming off of a 4-1 weekend at the Louisiana Classics last weekend and have been off for the past week. UL Lafayette has won three straight and eight of its last nine outings.
USM (7-12) enters the twinbill on a five-game losing streak and was swept in a three-game Conference USA series Wednesday and Thursday at Houston.
Louisiana-Lafayette has been swinging the hot bat as of late. Last weekend in the Louisiana Classics the Ragin' Cajuns blasted 15 home runs in five games. UL Lafayette has hit 22 homers this season through 12 games for an average of 1.8 per game and is on pace for 89 home runs which would shatter the school record of 76 hit last season.
Senior All-American third baseman Becky McMurtry, this week's Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, was 6-for-15 (.400 batting average) with four home runs, two doubles and nine RBI in the Louisiana Classics. She is the teams second leading hitter with a .333 average and is tied for the team lead with four home runs (Jill Robertson has four homers as well).
In the circle the Cajuns have been led by the solid one-two punch of senior Michael Parrott and sophomore Brooke Mitchell. Parrott has allowed just 15 hits in 24 1/3innings of action and has yet to surrender and earned run to the opposition. She picked up three wins in last weekend's Louisiana Classics tossing 14 2/3 innings of scoreless softball while allowing just seven hits.
USM is led at the plate by Sarah Boyd who his hitting .367 with five doubles and nine runs batted in. The Golden Eagles have struggled offensively this season and are batting a paltry .213. USM has just 26 extra base hits in 461 at bats.
Pitching wise the Eagles have a staff ERA of 2.28. Danielle Hatfield leads the way with a 1.54 ERA. Opponents are hitting .272 against USM pitching this season.
This is Southern Mississippi's first trip to Lady Cajun Park since April 5, 1992 – then-USL swept a doubleheader from USM 11-0, 7-0. The Ragin' Cajuns lead the all-time series 30-3.
Following the USM games on Sunday, UL Lafayette will conclude its current nine-game homestand with a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Boston University on Monday, March 10 at Lady Cajun Park.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
