University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Open Crucial Series With WKU Saturday
5/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Friday, May 2, 2003
BOWLING
GREEN, Ky. – The two-time defending Sun Belt Conference
regular season champions and 22nd-ranked Louisiana's
Ragin' Cajuns softball team opens a critical four-game
weekend series here Saturday in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at
the WKU Softball field against host Western Kentucky.At stake for the Cajuns this weekend in Bowling Green, the site of the 2003 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, is a third straight regular season championship.
UL Lafayette (37-7, 10-2 Sun Belt) leads second place Florida International (32-22, 8-2 Sun Belt) by one game in the standings heading into the final weekend of conference action.
FIU is in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this weekend to face off with third place Middle Tennessee (31-16, 7-5 Sun Belt) in another critical SBC series.
A four-game sweep this weekend will wrap up the Cajuns third straight SBC crown and give them the proverbial “three-peat” no matter if FIU sweeps MT.
However, if the Cajuns falter in any one of the four games this weekend in Bowling Green and FIU manages to sweep, the Golden Panthers would steal the No. 1 seed from UL Lafayette and claim its first-ever Sun Belt title by percentage points. The Cajuns would be 13-3 for a .813 winning percentage while the Panthers would be 12-2 for a .857 percentage.
It's safe to say that whatever FIU does this weekend the Cajuns had better make sure they do the same.
Louisiana-Lafayette comes into Saturday's games riding a four-game winning streak since having its season-high 18-game win streak ended by FIU on Easter Sunday.
The Cajuns swept McNeese State 4-0 and 3-2 on Tuesday in their last action. Sophomore ace pitcher Brooke Mitchell tossed her third no-hitter of the season and picked up the win in relief in game two while senior All-American and Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year candidate Becky McMurtry had the game-winning hits in each end of the twinbill.
The Cajuns had last weekend off and have not played a conference game since dropping a doubleheader at FIU two weekends ago.
UL Lafayette is 11-6 on the road this season (8-2 on the opponent's home field) and the Cajuns are 2-2 on the road in the Sun Belt.
This weekend's series concludes a 12-game road trip to end the season for the Cajuns.
Western Kentucky (27-27, 4-6 Sun Belt) comes into Saturday's twinbill having split their last 20 games overall and have won 25-of-45 since a 2-7 start to the season.
The Hilltoppers were swept by FIU in a doubleheader last Sunday and are 3-1 at the WKU Softball Field in Sun Belt action.
WKU opened Sun Belt play losing three-of-four to Middle Tennessee and then the following weekend became the only team in the Sun Belt to allow New Mexico State to record an SBC win.
This weekend's series also provides the Cajuns with the opportunity to notch the 900th win in program history.
UL Lafayette enters this weekend's four-game set with an 897-280 record all-time in the 23-year history of the program. If the Cajuns sweep Saturday and then a win in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader would notch the 900th win.
UL Lafayette leads the all-time series 9-1 and is 4-0 all-time in Bowling Green. The last time the two teams met at the WKU Softball Field, the Cajuns swept the Hilltoppers in a wild series that saw the Cajuns score 31 runs and WKU 19.
McMurtry
paces the Cajuns offense with a .421 batting average and
15 doubles.
Freshman and home run-record setter Danyele Gomez is next with a .375 clip, 17 home runs and a team- and Sun Belt-best 50 RBI.
In the circle the Cajuns are paced by Mitchell and her 0.92 ERA.
The Pasadena, Texas, native needs just one more strikeout to reach 200 this season which would make her the first Cajuns pitcher since Melissa Coronado in 2001 to reach the 200-strikeout plateau. Her 199 strikeouts through 152 2/3 innings is tops in the Sun Belt this season.
UL Lafayette can also rely on the services of redshirt freshman Afton Thoms in the pitching circle. Thoms is 10-2 with a 1.69 ERA and recently tossed a complete game, three-hitter of FIU Saturday, April 19.
WKU is led by Renita Pennington and Shelly Floyd at the plate. Pennington leads the Toppers with a .401 batting average and 24 stolen bases. Floyd is next at .397 with a team-best nine home runs and 45 RBI.
Pitching-wise the Toppers top pitcher is Allison Silver who will enter Saturday's affair with a 14-13 record and a 1.63 ERA. Silver leads all WKU hurlers with 117 strikeouts and 18 complete games.
The Toppers can also throw Adrienne Lathrop (13-9, 3.10 ERA, 101 K) who has split time with Silver in the circle this season.
Following Saturday's twinbill, the Cajuns and Hilltoppers will conclude their four-game series Sunday in an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
