University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Host FIU For Pivotal Sun Belt Series
4/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Friday, April 17, 2004
LAFAYETTE
– The Sun Belt's top two teams will converge on the
softball diamond this weekend as No. 8
Louisiana-Lafayette plays host to Florida International
in a four-game Sun Belt Conference series here at Ragin'
Cajuns Softball Park Saturday-Sunday, April 17-18.The series opens Saturday, April 17 in a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The four-game set will conclude on Sunday, April 18 at 1 p.m.
For the second straight season, both teams will enter their weekend series with undefeated Sun Belt marks. UL Lafayette (37-4) is 3-0 in Sun Belt play while FIU (22-23) is 4-0 in Sun Belt play.
The outcome of the weekend will determine who will be the front runner in the race for the 2004 Sun Belt Conference regular season championship. The winner will have the upper hand while the loser will have some work to do over the next three weekends.
Louisiana-Lafayette enters the weekend series riding a nine-game winning streak and has won 14 straight home Sun Belt games dating back to a 7-6 loss to Western Kentucky on April 6, 2002.
UL Lafayette is 23-1 all-time at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park in Sun Belt play.
The Golden Panthers bring a win streak of their own to the table. FIU has picked up five straight wins after sweeping North Texas in four games last weekend. FIU has never won in Lafayette.
Revenge will be on the Cajuns mind this season.
Last season, FIU and UL Lafayette split a four-game series in Miami with the Golden Panthers sweeping a doubleheader on Easter Sunday. It marked the first, and only, time that the Cajuns had been swept in a Sun Belt twinbill.
UL Lafayette will be opening a six-game homestand against a pair of teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season. Following the FIU weekend tilt, the Ragin' Cajuns will face off with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, an affiliate member of the Big South Conference, in a midweek doubleheader next Wednesday.
Last weekend, the Cajuns opened Sun Belt play with a three-game sweep of New Mexico State. The series was cut short when Sunday's second game was halted by rain.
The matchup features the Sun Belt's top two pitching staffs.
Louisiana-Lafayette features the league's top pitcher, Brooke Mitchell, and a league-best 0.61 ERA. Opponents are hitting a mere .144 off of the Cajuns pitching staff and .126 when Mitchell is in the circle.
FIU enters the series with a team ERA of 1.45 and are holding opponents to a .220 batting average. The Golden Panthers have three pitchers to run out to the circle – Kendra Laminack, Amanda Nealer and Nicole Barrett.
In last season's four-game series in Miami, the two teams combined for 18 runs with Louisiana-Lafayette having a 10-8 edge.
UL Lafayette has owned the series with the Golden Panthers and currently holds an 15-3 advantage (9-3 in SBC regular season play).
Last season, the two squads split a four-game set in Miami. However, the Cajuns got the better end of the deal when they defeated FIU 6-2 to claim the Sun Belt Tournament crown.
The Cajuns and Panthers have a history of close calls in the 18-game series. Nine of the 18 games have been decided by one run and the largest margin of victory was an 8-0 UL Lafayette mercy-rule win in the last regular season series held in Lafayette. The Cajuns hold an all-time runs scored advantage of 59-27.
Brooke Mitchell, the Cajuns pitching staff ace, recently set the school career strikeouts record in Wednesday's doubleheader sweep of Louisiana Tech. The Pasadena, Texas, native enters this weekend's series needing just 20 strikeouts to reach 400 this season and is four wins shy of tying Melissa Coronado's single-season victories record.
Mitchell boasts a 31-3 record with a 0.56 ERA and has given up just one earned run in her last 36 2/3 innings of action.
Holly Tankersley continues to lead the Cajuns lineup with a .358 average. The Kirbyville, Texas, native has hit a team-best 12 home runs and leads the way with 19 extra base hits.
Junior shortstop Tiffany Hebert enters the weekend set with the hottest bat. The Breaux Bridge native has hit 7-for-13 (.538) in the last five games with two home runs and four RBI. She has raised her batting average 59 points during the stretch.
The Golden Panthers are led at the plate by third baseman Jennifer Owens who is hitting .349 with five doubles, two home runs and 16 RBI. Owens is the lone regular starter that is batting above .300.
In the pitching circle, FIU employs a three-man rotation of Laminack, Nealer and Barrett.
Laminack is the team leader in ERA at 0.99 through 112 2/3 innings. The senior hurler has surrendered just 16 earned runs.
Nealer, a left-handed hurler, is 7-7 this season and has struggled with a 1.66 ERA. Last year's staff ace, she has netted just 124 strikeouts in 126 2/3 innings.
The Golden Panthers have been hampered by a shaky defense which has committed 61 errors and has a .954 fielding percentage.
HOME, SWEET HOME: There's no doubt that the Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park has been the perfect home for Louisiana-Lafayette softball.
Now in its 20th season of service to the nationally recognized program, UL Lafayette has posted a 422-70 (.858) record all-time at the park.
Under head coach Stefni Lotief, the Ragin' Cajuns have posted an 86-9 mark (.905) in the friendly confines.
Dating back to 1999, Louisiana-Lafayette has gone 138-13 for a .914 winning percentage.
CAJUNS VS. MIDWEST REGION TEAMS: Louisiana-Lafayette's sweep of New Mexico State last weekend improved the Cajuns to 19-2 versus teams competing within the NCAA Midwest Region. Since losing to Texas State on March 16, the Cajuns have won seven straight against MW Region opponents.
Of the Cajuns remaining 18 regular season contests, 16 will be against teams that comprise the Midwest Region with next Wednesday's doubleheader with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi not counting toward the Midwest Region record.
The Midwest Region includes teams from the Big 12, Missouri Valley, Southland and Sun Belt Conferences.
Games against teams from the MW Region will go a long way in determining the Cajuns status for the NCAA Regionals, considering the fact that the Sun Belt has no automatic bid.
The Cajuns have an excellent opportunity to impress one of the MW Region committee members this weekend. FIU head coach Kim Gwydir serves as the Sun Belt Conference's representative on the committee.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
