University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Move Up To 21st In NFCA Poll, Join ESPN.com Poll at No. 22
4/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Tuesday, April 8, 2003
LAFAYETTE
– Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team is picking up
steam on the playing field. They're also making strides
in the rankings.
Louisiana's
Ragin' Cajuns softball team gained significant ground in
the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top
25 poll and joined the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate
Top 25, as both polls were released Tuesday afternoon.
The Cajuns (24-5, 4-0 Sun Belt) jumped four spots to No.
21 from the previous week in the NFCA poll in which they
were ranked 25th. UL Lafayette earned 106
votes compared to 39 last week – a 67 point gain. It is
the highest ranking for the Cajuns this season.
The Cajuns, who had been receiving votes throughout the
season, entered the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll at No.
22. The Cajuns are tied with South Florida in the weekly
poll which debuted this season. This week's ranking
marks Louisiana-Lafayette's first in the newly formed
poll.
Last week Louisiana-Lafayette went 6-0 with doubleheader
sweeps of Louisiana-Monroe and Middle Tennessee. The
Cajuns opened Sun Belt play over the weekend, sweeping
MT in four games to extend their season-high win streak
to nine games and home win streak to 16.
UL Lafayette owns two wins over teams ranked in the Top
25. The Cajuns defeated No. 14 Florida State (30-9) 3-0
at the KIA Klassic and No. 17 Alabama (32-13) 2-0 at
home on March 27. Louisiana-Lafayette also hung tough
with No. 4 Oklahoma, limiting the Sooners to one hit and
falling 1-0 on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.
No. 21 UL Lafayette will return to action on Saturday, April 12 in a 1 p.m. doubleheader against New Mexico State (7-40, 0-4 Sun Belt). The twinbill is the opening games of a four-game Sun Belt series with the Aggies. The series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
