University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Square Off With UL Monroe Wednesday
4/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Tuesday, April 1, 2003
LAFAYETTE – With the conference season lurking around the corner, the 25th-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team will be gearing up for a run at its third straight Sun Belt Conference regular season championship.
But
before then, the Cajuns must direct their attention to a
doubleheader Wednesday evening against one of their
fiercest in-state rivals in the Louisiana-Monroe
Indians. The twinbill will begin at
5 p.m.
at
Lady
Cajun Park and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio
ESPN 1420-KPEL AM in the Lafayette area with pregame
beginning at
4:45 p.m.
Although the games will appear as a tuneup for the 25th-ranked Cajuns squad of head coach Stefni Lotief, caution must be taken by the Cajuns as UL Monroe has had a history of giving the Cajuns fits no matter what the team's records may be.
ULM (14-20) has given Lotief-coached teams fits in the past including last season's upset of the then-19th ranked UL Lafayette squad 9-6 last season in Monroe. The Cajuns spilt that doubleheader, but had to rally back in game two with a game-tying home run by Tiffany Grayson in the top of the seventh and won the game in extra innings.
In the last meeting at Lady Cajun Park the Cajuns had to rally in the bottom of the seventh of game one for the 5-4 win before routing the Indians 11-0 in game two.
Louisiana-Lafayette (18-5) will enter the doubleheader coming off of a 3-0 performance last week which included Brooke Mitchell's one-hit shutout of then-No.16 Alabama last Thursday. The Cajuns concluded play last week with a sweep of Prairie View A&M and have been off since then.
Louisiana-Monroe is continuing its current five-game road trip and was recently swept in a three-game Southland Conference series at Nicholls State – being outscored 8-1 and getting shutout in the last two games of the set.
The Cajuns meanwhile are in the midst of their season-long 16-game homestand which will run through April 17 with the home finale against Texas-San Antonio. UL Lafayette has won its last 10 home games this season and 61-of-69 under coach Lotief.
UL Lafayette has swept eight straight doubleheaders since last season's April 24 split with ULM and has swept 14 of the last 15. The Cajuns have swept 33-of-39 twinbills under Lotief.
Louisiana-Lafayette's
offense is paced by the bat of senior All-American Becky McMurtry who continues to amaze with her ability to nab
the extra-base hit. McMurtry's season average has
climbed to a season-best .391 as she has gone 8-for-14
(.571) in the last six games.
She leads the Cajuns with 16 extra-baggers, 55 total bases, .859 slugging percentage and a .512 on-base percentage. The North Platte, Neb., native has drawn 12 walks and has struck out just nine times. She is hitting .402 as a Cajun since joining the team in 2002.
True freshman Danyele Gomez continues to impress as a solid bat in the middle of the order. The Metairie native hit her team-leading ninth home run Friday versus Prairie View and also is the team's top run producer with 25 runs batted in.
Catcher
Joy Webre has improved as of late. The Denham Springs
native was 5-for-9 (.556) last week with three doubles
and the winning run against
Alabama.
Webre bettered her season batting average by 56 points
and is currently hitting .230.
The doubleheader will be another chance for the Cajuns to continue their assault on the record books. UL Lafayette has 38 home runs this season (33 hit at Lady Cajun Park) and is on pace for 81 which would break the record of 76 set just last season.
In the circle, the Cajuns are paced by sophomore Brooke Mitchell and senior Michael Parrott. The two combined are 13-4 this season with an ERA of 0.94. Parrott is the team's earned run average leader at 0.71 and has allowed just four earned runs in 39 1/3 innings of action. Mitchell is second on the team with a 1.06 ERA.
Mitchell has tossed consecutive one-hitters of ranked
teams and has allowed just eight hits in her last 35
innings in the circle. She has struck
out
99 batters and needs just 37 more strikeouts to reach
300 in her brief career. Opponents are hitting a paltry
.073 against Mitchell in her last eight appearances.
Parrott meanwhile has held opponents off the scoreboard this season and has been involved in five shutouts in her seven starts. She recently recorded her 50th career win Friday in a 10-1 win over Prairie View as the Panthers scored one of just four earned runs she has allowed this season.
The Cajuns pitching staff leads the Sun Belt Conference with a 1.22 ERA and has allowed just 95 hits in 148 2/3 innings of action this season. Opponents are hitting a mere .177 against Cajuns pitching.
ULM is coached by long-time head coach Rosemary Holloway who is in her 19th season at ULM and 23rd overall.
The Indians are led by the bat of senior Casey Goodman who is having a banner year. The Bakersfield, Calif., native leads UL Monroe with a .462 batting average and has pounded out 12 home runs and driven in 41 runs so far this season. Goodman's slugging percentage is .934 and her on-base percentage is .570.
Goodman was 3-for-3 with a home run in ULM's 9-6 win over the Cajuns last season on April 24. She has proven to be a tough out this season walking 23 times and striking out just six times.
The Indians have seen three pitchers carry the load in the circle this season. Junior transfer Kate Schaper (4-2, 2.79 ERA) leads the staff which also includes Ashley Bellew (5-9, 3.10 ERA) and Sarah Freeman (5-8, 4.14 ERA). Bellew and Freeman have received 29 of the 34 starts this season with each logging 92 2/3 and 91 1/3 innings respectively.
UL Lafayette leads the all-time series 64-22 and is 4-3 versus ULM under Lotief. The two teams have split four previous meetings at Lady Cajun Park under Lotief with the Cajuns sweeping last season's twinbill 5-4, 11-0 (5 inn.).
Wednesday's twinbill will be an opportunity for the Cajuns to move closer to 400 wins all-time at Lady Cajun Park. UL Lafayette is currently three wins shy of 400 in its beloved home.
Following the ULM doubleheader, Louisiana-Lafayette will open defense of its back-to-back Sun Belt Conference regular season championships with a four-game series against Middle Tennessee (15-10) Saturday-Sunday, April 5-6 at Lady Cajun Park. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. while Sunday's commences at Noon.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
