Cajuns Register Top 10 Ranking for the Second Straight Season

Wednesday, June 2, 2004

LAFAYETTE - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team finished the 2004 season right where it began - in the Top 10 of the national polls.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and USA Softball/ESPN.com released their respective final Top 25 polls for the 2004 season on Wednesday and both found the Cajuns of head coach Stefni Lotief ranked in the 10th slot (No. 10).

The Ragin' Cajuns (60-8) finished in the Top 10 of the national polls for the second straight season after garnering a No. 8 finish in 2003.

The Cajuns found themselves ranked higher than Georgia, Oregon, Alabama, Nebraska and Oregon State, to name a few - all squads seeded higher than them in the NCAA Regionals.

Louisiana-Lafayette spent the final 10 weeks of the regular season as a member of the Top 10 and all but two. The Cajuns re-entered the elusive group on March 9 and remained there the rest of the season.

The Cajuns ended the 2004 season with a 60-8 record overall and a 18-0 Sun Belt Conference record. UL Lafayette set the school record for wins and became the first Sun Belt school to finish regular season play undefeated.

The Cajuns made their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999 and 14th in the last 15 years. UL Lafayette's appearance in the regional final marked the program's 11th appearance on Championship Sunday.

UL Lafayette also won its fourth straight Sun Belt Conference regular season title and fifth straight SBC Tournament championship as the Cajuns remain the only champion that the league has ever known.

USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll - Final

-- Ragin' Cajuns --