University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Ranked 9th In ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Top 25 Poll
1/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004
LAFAYETTE
– Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team will begin the
2004 regular season in the Top 10 of the national
rankings.The first softball poll of the 2004 season was released Wednesday and the Ragin' Cajuns were ranked No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll.
Louisiana-Lafayette, coming off a 47-11 season in 2003 and an appearance in the Women's College World Series, was ranked eighth in the final 2003 poll.
The Cajuns were the only Sun Belt school to garner the preseason honor and the ranking marks the highest preseason recognition during head coach Stefni Lotief's tenure.
"The preseason ranking is in recognition for the outstanding season we had last year and acknowledgment that we return an awesome team for 2004,” Lotief said. “We are building a program that has as one of its goals to be recognized nationally as one of the best in the country.
"It is great to start the year in the top 10 - we are honored."
Louisiana-Lafayette returns six position starters, two starting pitchers and a total of 11 letterwinners from its 2003 squad that claimed the program's third straight Sun Belt regular season championship and advanced to the WCWS for the first time since 1996.
"The game is played on the field and we need to take care of our business and the polls will take care of themselves," Lotief stressed. "Our focus is on playing the game and getting better everyday."
"We
have a great team with great players who work hard both
on the field and in the classroom,” Lotief said. “We are
excited about the season getting started the first week
of February and we hope to see everybody at the park for
all the home games and we appreciate all of the support
this community has given and continues to give to
benefit the Ragin' Cajuns softball program."
Sophomore All-American Danyele Gomez highlights the list of returning talent on offense. The Metairie native set the school home run record last season as a freshman hitting 20 home runs. Gomez also led the team with 65 hits, 62 RBI and 137 total bases.
In the pitching circle the Cajuns return junior All-American candidate and the 2003 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year Brooke Mitchell. Mitchell set the school record of strikeouts last season with 279 and her 1.11 earned run average ranked 19th in the nation.
The Cajuns open the 2004 season and fourth under Lotief on Saturday, Feb. 7 against Kentucky in the first round of the UL Monroe Mardi Gras Classic in Monroe.
The first home game is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 13 against McNeese State at 4:15 p.m., in the 18th Annual Louisiana Classics.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
