University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Florida International
Cajuns Claim Fourth Straight Sun Belt Tournament Championship
5/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Saturday, May 10, 2003
BOWLING
GREEN, Ky. – A key three-run, two-out rally in the first
inning coupled with another solid pitching performance
by sophomore ace and 2003 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of
the Year Brooke Mitchell were the key ingredients here
Saturday afternoon in a 6-2 win for Louisiana's Ragin'
Cajuns softball team over Florida International in the
championship game of the 2003 SBC Tournament at the WKU
Softball Field on the Western Kentucky University
campus.
With the win, the Cajuns (43-8) claimed their fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship and remain the only champion in the four-year history of the postseason event. UL Lafayette also remained undefeated in tournament play at 13-0 and completed their fourth straight sweep through the event in as many years.
“To be on the road and be successful says a lot about this young team,” said Cajuns head coach Stefni Lotief. “Every time we step on the field, this tournament was our ultimate goal. We had a great weekend, it's a big accomplishment for this team to win the championship.”
Mitchell tossed her second straight complete game win over FIU, going the distance allowing just three hits and striking out eight batters over seven innings. Both runs she allowed Saturday were unearned as she completed the tournament without allowing an earned run.
Her eight strikeouts increased her Sun Belt Tournament total to 26 and her season total to 243 – the second-highest single-season total ever and just 13 shy of the all-time mark of 256 set by Cheryl Longeway in 1995.
Mitchell ended the SBC Tournament with a 2-0 record, one save, 0.00 ERA, 26 strikeouts, four hits allowed over 13 2/3 innings pitched and opponents hit just .078 against her.
For her efforts the Pasadena, Texas, native was named the 2003 SBC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. It marked the second straight year that a pitcher from Louisiana-Lafayette was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
The Cajuns manufactured three runs in the top of the first inning off of three hits.
Freshman
Danyele Gomez got the Cajuns first hit of the afternoon
with a line drive up the middle of the infield that
advanced senior All-American third baseman Becky McMurtry over to third base. McMurtry had drawn a walk
on the game's second at bat taking five pitches from FIU
starter Amanda Nealer.
After Joy Webre struck out for the second out of the inning, Louisiana-Lafayette began its three-run, two-out rally with a well-executed double steal by McMurtry and Gomez for a 1-0 lead.
After the double steal Brittany Bryant followed with a walk and Lauren Castle drove home the Cajuns second run of the inning with an RBI single up the middle on a full count against FIU starter Amanda Nealer. Castle's RBI single plated Gomez from second base for a 2-0 lead.
Tiffany Grayson complete the rally with a perfectly placed RBI single into shallow center field that allowed Bryant to cross home plate and give the Cajuns a 3-0 lead.
“I think we made a big statement early, we showed we were ready to play,” Lotief said. “But we weren't finished because we came back with another big inning late.”
FIU scored its first of two unearned runs in the game and first in four meetings against the Cajuns in Sun Belt Tournament play when Brittany Bryant dropped a shallow pop fly in right field allowing Marleah Stapf to score and trim the Cajuns lead to 3-1.
The Golden Panthers would push across their second unearned run of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth to inch within 3-2.
UL Lafayette first baseman Summar Lapeyrouse made her first error of the 2003 season when she dropped a ball from shortstop Jill Robertson allowing Nicole Dubovik to round third base for a score.
Dubovik had led off the inning with a bloop double into shallow left field that rolled away into foul territory allowing her to make it to second base.
The Cajuns made sure that FIU would not make a comeback and spoil another perfect SBC Tournament run by tacking on three more runs in the top of the seventh inning keyed by a Gomez three-run home run after Nealer pitched around McMurtry with one out.
Crystal George led off the inning with a double off of the right
field fence over the head of FIU right fielder Amber
Gill. She was replaced by pinch runner Tiffany Hebert
who later moved over to third base on a passed ball.
After a Jill Robertson foul out for the first out of the inning, Nealer issued a free pass on four straight pitches to McMurtry with hopes of setting up the double play.
Gomez ruined that idea and made the Golden Panthers pay when she ripped her team-and Sun Belt-leading 18th home run of the season over the right field fence for three more runs and a 6-2 lead.
Mitchell retired FIU in order in the bottom half of the seventh to clinch the Cajuns their fourth straight SBC Tournament championship and fourth straight unbeaten run through the league's postseason event.
The Ragin' Cajuns will now travel back to Lafayette Sunday morning and await word from the NCAA Softball Committee on whether or not they will receive an at-large bid into the 2003 NCAA Tournament.
The Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion is not awarded an automatic bid but is given strong consideration for an at-large berth.
The NCAA Softball Committee will announce its selections for the 2003 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, May 11 at 9 p.m. (CST) live on ESPNEWS (Direct TV channel 207).
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
