University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns To Face FIU For SBC Tournament Title
5/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Friday, May 9, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The 21st-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team will go for its fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship here Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at the WKU Softball Field against second-seeded Florida International.
The
Cajuns (42-8) will enter the game undefeated in
tournament play and will have to be defeated twice in
order to be dethroned. The Cajuns are 3-0 all-time in
SBC Tournament title games and have never lost in four
years since the event began in 2000 (12-0).
FIU (37-24) enters the game 2-1 in tournament play and defeated Western Kentucky 5-0 in Friday night's elimination game to reach Saturday's final round.
The Cajuns and Golden Panthers will be meeting for the second time in as many days.
UL Lafayette won the first meeting between the two in this year's tournament - throttling the Panthers 6-0 behind a career-high 16-strikeout performance by sophomore ace and 2003 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year Brooke Mitchell.
Louisiana-Lafayette and FIU have met five times this season with the Cajuns holding a 3-2 edge. The Cajuns lead the all-time series 14-3 are 3-0 against the Golden Panthers in SBC Tournament games.
The Cajuns face a new opponent in the tournament final for the first time since the 2000 inaugural event. UL Lafayette defeated Middle Tennessee for the 2001 and 2002 crowns. In 2000, the Cajuns downed Western Kentucky for the inaugural tournament championship.
Though no automatic bid is awarded in the SBC Tournament, the winner of the event is given high consideration for an at-large bid to the "Field of 64." The NCAA Softball Committee will award bids to the 2003 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, May 11 and the selections will be aired live on ESPNEWS (Direct TV 207) beginning at 9 p.m. (CDT).
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
