Mitchell and Tankersley Named To NFCA All-South Region First Team

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

LAFAYETTE – The ninth-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team placed two players on the 2004 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-South Region First Team as announced by the organization in a release Wednesday.

Junior ace hurler and 2004 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year Brooke Mitchell and 2004 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year Holly Tankersley represented Louisiana-Lafayette.

Each will now be up for NFCA All-America honors.

The team was voted on my NFCA member coaches from the region. The Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America teams will be announced on Wednesday, May 26 at the opening ceremonies of the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.

This season's three selections to the All-South Region team marked the 17th straight season that the Cajuns softball program had at least one player selected to the All-Region team.

For Mitchell it's her second straight appearance on the All-Region team while Tankersley garners the honor for the first time in her career.

Mitchell, the 2004 Sun Belt Conference Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, sports a miniscule 0.55 ERA and has fanned a career-best 484. She needs just 16 more strikeouts to become just the fourth player in NCAA Division I history to reach 500 strikeouts in a single season.

A Top 10 Finalist for the 2004 USA Softball National Player of the Year Award and eight-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week, Mitchell has accounted for 41 of Louisiana-Lafayette's 55 victories (75 percent). Her 41 wins set a new school single-season record, rank second in the nation and make her one of just 13 players in NCAA Division I history to reach 40 wins in a season.

Mitchell has double-digit strikeout performances in five of her last seven starts and tossed a no-hitter in the Sun Belt Tournament winner's bracket finals against FIU last Saturday.

Mitchell will bring a 19-game winning streak to the table against South Carolina in the Cajuns NCAA Regional opener Thursday at 4 p.m. (CDT) in Tucson, Ariz. Since dropping a 2-0 decision to No. 1 Arizona on March 20 at the KIA Klassic she has been unbeatable.

Tankersley leads the Ragin' Cajuns and Sun Belt with 20 home runs – a tally which is tied for the single-season record set by Danyele Gomez last season. She Has a team-high 32 extra-base hits (12 doubles, 20 home runs) and sports a .793 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage.

A First Team All-Sun Belt member, Tankersley is hitting .354 and has 12 multiple-hit games and 10 multiple-RBI games and holds the school record for walks with 42. The Kirbyville, Texas, native went 6-for-10 with three home runs, six RBI and six runs scored in the Cajuns sweep through the Sun Belt Tournament last weekend.

UL Lafayette (43-8), the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Regional No. 1 in Tucson, Ariz., will open play in the eight-team tournament Thursday at 4 p.m. (CDT) against No. 4 seed South Carolina (27-22) at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium.

South Region

-- Ragin' Cajuns --