University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Weekly Notebook: Cajuns In Search of a Conference Crown in Kentucky
4/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
2005 SEASON QUICK FACTS...
Overall record:
40-7
Sun Belt Record: 12-0 Non-Conference Record:
28-7
Record Last 10 Games: 10-0
Current Streak: Won 18 (March 29-present)
Home Record: 26-3 Away Record: 10-0 Neutral
Site Record: 4-4
Record vs.
Midwest
Region:
25-2
Record vs. Ranked Teams: 0-5
Record
vs.
Louisiana
Teams:
16-1
February:
15-2 March: 9-5
April: 16-0
Current Rankings: No. 14 (NFCA); No. 14 (ESPN/USA
Softball)
SERIES INFORMATION...
Dates:
Saturday, April 30, 2005 – 1 p.m. (CST) doubleheader;
Sunday, May 1, 2005 – 12 p.m. (CST) doubleheader
Venue: WKU Softball Field (350)
The Teams: #14 Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns (40-7,
12-0 Sun Belt), Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (27-18, 8-4
Sun Belt)
The Coaches: #14 Louisiana-Lafayette -
Stefni Lotief (248-49, fifth season at Louisiana-Lafayette
and overall); Western Kentucky – Rachel Lawson (27-18, 1st
season at Western Kentucky and overall)
Stefni Lotief
vs.
Western Kentucky:
15-2 Rachel Lawson vs. UL: 0-0
The Series: Louisiana-Lafayette leads 16-2
In Sun Belt Regular Season Play: Louisiana-Lafayette
leads 13-2
Current Series Streak:
Louisiana-Lafayette – 7 wins (May 3, 2003-present)
In
Lafayette:
Cajuns lead 7-1 In
Bowling Green:
Cajuns
lead 8-1 Neutral Site: Cajuns lead 1-0
Last
Series:
Cajuns swept three games 9-2, 6-3, 9-1 (6) – May 2, 2003
in Lafayette
Last
Series in Bowling Green:
May 3-4, 2003 – WKU won 3-2 (8), UL won 1-0 (8), 10-1 (6),
5-0
Cajuns Most Recently: Swept Nicholls State 2-1 (8),
9-0 (5) – Wednesday, April 27 in Thibodaux, La.
Hilltoppers Most Recently: Split four games at FIU
L, 0-4, 0-5; W, 1-0, 6-1 – Saturday-Sunday, April 23-24 in
Miami
Cajuns Streak: Won 18 (March 29-present)
Hilltoppers Steak: Won 2 (April 25-present)
NOW BATTING:
The 14th-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team (40-7, 12-0 Sun Belt) travels to Bowling Green, Ky., this weekend for a four-game Sun Belt Conference series with Western Kentucky (27-18, 8-4 Sun Belt) with the opportunity to clinch its fifth straight Sun Belt Conference regular season championship.
No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette needs just three more victories in its final eight Sun Belt contests to secure yet another SBC league title. The Hilltoppers are the nearest competitor to the reigning league champions at this point in the season, trailing the Cajuns by four games. With three wins over WKU, the Cajuns would mathematically eliminate the Hilltoppers and wrap up the league crown and No. 1 seed before the final weekend of play.
Louisiana-Lafayette carries two impressive winning streaks into this weekend's key Sun Belt series – the Cajuns have won 18 straight games overall (which ties for the longest win streak in the Lotief Era) and have won a school-and Sun Belt-record 33 straight regular season Sun Belt games dating back to the 2003 season.
Ironically, the Cajuns will be visiting the site of the program's last Sun Belt Conference regular season loss – WKU defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 3-2 in eight innings on May 3, 2003; Louisiana-Lafayette followed the loss up with a 1-0 win in eight innings to begin the current string of 33 straight Sun Belt victories.
The four-game series begins on Saturday, April 30 with a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The two teams will conclude the series on Sunday, May 1 with a Noon doubleheader.
Louisiana-Lafayette leads the all-time series 16-2 and has won the last seven meetings. The Cajuns are 8-1 all-time at WKU Softball Field.
The Cajuns are coming off of a 2-1 (8 innings), 9-0 (5 innings) sweep of in-state foe Nicholls State on Wednesday. The sweep clinched the seventh straight 40-win season and capped off the Cajuns non-conference record at 28-7.
WKU is 8-7 at home this season with a 2-2 record in Sun Belt play (split with New Mexico State April 16-17).
ON DECK:
No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette will take a break from action as the University administers final exams Monday, May 2-Saturday, May 7. No mid-week games are scheduled next week as a result.
The Ragin' Cajuns next action following the WKU series will take place Saturday-Sunday, May 7-8 against Middle Tennessee at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park. The MT series marks the end of the 2005 regular season and will serve as “Senior Weekend” for 2005 seniors Crystal George, Tiffany Hebert, Brooke Mitchell, Jill Robertson and Joy Webre. Doubleheaders will be played at 1 p.m. both days.
WHAT HAPPENED WEDNESDAY vs. Nicholls State:
The 14th-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team received a stellar pitching performance from Brooke Mitchell in game one and then broke out the offense in game two to post a 2-1 (8 inn.), 9-0 (5 inn.) sweep of Nicholls State here Wednesday at Colonel Diamond.
Brooke Mitchell fanned 15 batters in game one and Jill Robertson scored on a fielding error by Lindsey Yelverton in the eighth inning to score the winning run in the third extra inning game between the two teams this season. The Cajuns fell behind in the third inning on a Yelverton RBI single, but evened the score in their next at bat when Ashley Evans crushed a solo home run to left center.
In game two, the Cajuns chased Nicholls State starter Jessica Barksdale by scoring seven runs over 1 2/3 innings to cruise to a run rule win in five innings. Brittany Bryant led the charge with three RBI while Lacey Bertucci and Ashley Evans each contributed two RBI apiece.
With the sweep, No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette (40-7) extended its season-high winning streak to 18 games – tying the Lotief Era for longest winning streak - and wrapped up its non-conference record at 28-7. The win in game two clinched the program's seventh straight 40-win season and 13th in the last 14 years.
Louisiana-Lafayette swept a doubleheader for the 12th time this season and 66th time out of 75 chances under co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief.
Mitchell improved to 25-6 on the season with the win in game one. She increased her career strikeout total to 1,284 as she surpassed former Louisiana-Monroe pitcher Sarah Dawson into ninth place on the all-time NCAA Division I career strikeouts list.
GAME 1
Brooke Mitchell averaged nearly two strikeouts per inning to keep the Nicholls State lineup off balance. Mitchell fanned 14 Colonel hitters through regulation and an Ashley Evans solo home run in the fourth inning helped even the score after a Lindsay Yelverton RBI single in the third inning gave Nicholls an early 1-0 edge.
Yelverton had the hit in the third inning that allowed Nicholls to send the game into extras. However, it was her defensive mishap in the eighth inning that wound up costing the home team.
Jill Robertson led off the Cajuns half of the eighth inning with a single up the middle. Danyele Gomez sent a grounder toward NSU third baseman Leah Peterson who allowed the grounder to slip under her glove and put Gomez on base.
With one out, Yelverton fielded a grounder from Evans and attempted to touch second base to force out Gomez. However, the Colonel shortstop bobbled the ball and it rolled into the outfield allowing Robertson to round third and score the game's winning run.
Mitchell retired the Colonels in order in their half of the eighth to put the finishing touches on her eighth consecutive winning decision.
GAME 2
No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette pushed across four runs before starting pitcher Heather Bobbitt even stepped in the pitching circle.
Jill Robertson led off the top of the first inning with a walk and Danyele Gomez took a Barksdale pitch into left field. Brittany Bryant laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners over one more base into scoring position.
The Cajuns scored their first two runs before another hit was recorded as Ashley Evans struck out swinging and reached base on a passed ball. Meghan Mulcahy grabbed the loose ball and attempted to pickoff Robertson leaning off third base. Her throw went to third baseman Alaina Vardell who attempted to get Robertson at home, but her throw sailed over Mulcahy's glove allowing Robertson and then Gomez to score for a 2-0 lead.
Lacey Bertucci added her 13th home run of the season following Evans' at bat to increase the lead to 4-0.
A three-run home run to dead center field by Bryant chased Barksdale and increased the lead to 7-0. Evans got a two-RBI single in the fourth inning to push the margin over the necessary eight runs for a mercy rule decision.
The run support was more than enough for Bobbitt (12-0) who remained undefeated following her seven strikeout performance. Bobbitt's seventh and final strikeout of the night was her 100th of the season – the first time in her career she's reached 100 strikeouts.
DOUBLEHEADER DELIGHT:
Dating back to a doubleheader spilt at UL Monroe on April 24, 2002, the Cajuns have swept 48 of their last 52 doubleheaders. The Cajuns are currently on a string of 16 consecutive doubleheaders swept (last loss a doubleheader game on April 21, 2004 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).
Louisiana-Lafayette has swept 66 of 75 doubleheaders played under co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief. This season, the Cajuns are a perfect 12-for-12 in twinbills.
In Sun Belt play, the Cajuns have swept 35 of the 39 doubleheaders they have been involved in plus one rare tripleheader (last season on May 2 against Western Kentucky).
The Cajuns will play two (2) more doubleheaders this season following the games with Western Kentucky.
THE SERIES – CAJUNS LEAD 16-2:
This weekend's series will be the 19th-22nd meetings between the two teams and ninth through 13th in Bowling Green.
The Cajuns and Hilltoppers series began in 2000 when the two teams met for the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship. Louisiana-Lafayette won that first meeting 2-0 and claimed its first of what are now five straight SBC Tournament titles.
The series continued in 2001 with the first season of Sun Belt Conference regular season play. Louisiana-Lafayette and Western Kentucky met in Bowling Green for a four-game series that the Cajuns swept by a count of 31-19.
The two teams met for the second straight season in the Sun Belt Tournament meeting in the 2001 event in the first round with the Cajuns posting a 3-2 win in Las Cruces, N.M. – the only neutral site meeting in the series.
In 2002, WKU made its first regular season trip to Lafayette for a weekend conference tilt and did something no one else in the Sun Belt to this date has ever done to this date - won a Sun Belt Conference game at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park. The Toppers upset the Cajuns 7-6 in the second game on April 6 to hand Louisiana-Lafayette its lone SBC defeat ever at its home facility.
This series has a significant bearing attached to it. When the Ragin' Cajuns ventured north to Bowling Green in 2003, a 1-0 (eight innings) victory on Saturday, May 3, 2003, started what is now Louisiana-Lafayette's program-and Sun Belt-record streak of 33 consecutive regular season conference victories. In that 2003 weekend series, WKU posted its first-ever win over the Cajuns at WKU Softball Field taking the first game on Saturday by a 3-2 count in eight innings. The Cajuns bounced back in game two and nave proceeded to win the last seven meetings between the two programs.
The 2003 season saw the third meeting in a Sun Belt Tournament between the two teams. Louisiana-Lafayette posted a 2-1 win at WKU Softball Field on May 8, 2003.
Just last season (2004), the Cajuns and Hilltoppers participated in one of the more unique situations in college softball. As a result of rain showers on Saturday, May 1, the first game of the series was suspended until Sunday morning. The two teams picked up game one in the bottom of the first inning on Sunday morning then proceeded to play the regularly scheduled doubleheader – making it a softball tripleheader on Sunday, May 2, 2003.
Overall the Cajuns hold a 16-2 advantage in the series and are 8-1 all-time at the WKU Softball Field.
The Cajuns have outscored the Toppers 42-5 in the previous seven outings during the current win streak.
CAJUNS VS. HILLTOPPERS ALL-TIME
4/30/00
– UL 2, WKU 0 (LAFAYETTE)
UL 1-0
4/21/01
– UL 6, WKU 4 (Bowling Green) UL 2-0
4/21/01 – UL 10, WKU 3 (Bowling Green) UL 3-0
4/22/01 – UL 9, WKU 4 (Bowling Green) UL 4-0
4/22/01 – UL 6, WKU 4 (Bowling Green) UL 5-0
5/11/01 – UL 3, WKU 2 (Las Cruces, NM) UL 6-0
4/6/02
– UL 4, WKU 1 (LAFAYETTE)
UL 7-0
4/6/02
– WKU 7, UL 6 (LAFAYETTE)
UL 7-1
4/7/02
– UL 6, WKU 1 (LAFAYETTE)
UL 8-1
4/7/02
– UL 2, WKU 0 (LAFAYETTE)
UL 9-1
5/3/03
– WKU 3, UL 2 (Bowling Green) UL 9-2
5/3/03 – UL 1, WKU 0 (Bowling Green) UL 10-2
5/4/03 – UL 10, WKU 1 (Bowling Green) UL 11-2
5/4/03 – UL 5, WKU 0 (Bowling Green) UL 12-2
5/8/03 – UL 2, WKU 1 (Bowling Green) UL 13-2
5/2/04
– UL 9, WKU 2 (LAFAYETTE)
UL 14-2
5/2/04
– UL 6, WKU 3 (LAFAYETTE)
UL 15-2
5/2/04
– UL 9, WKU 1 (LAFAYETTE)
UL 16-2
CAJUNS ON THE ROAD IN SUN BELT PLAY:
Since the league was formed in 2001, the Cajuns are 39-4 on the road in Sun Belt Conference regular season play. Dating back to a loss at Western Kentucky on May 3, 2003, the Cajuns have won 18 straight Sun Belt road games.
Louisiana-Lafayette has already played four Sun Belt road games this season, sweeping FIU April 16-17. The Western Kentucky series marks the final four road games on the 2005 Sun Belt slate as they attempt to finish undefeated on the road in league play for the second straight season.
Each year in Sun Belt play, the Cajuns have had to play at FIU and WKU in the same season. In 2001 the Cajuns went 7-1 (4-0 at WKU, 3-1 at FIU) and in 2003 the team went 5-3 (2-2 at FIU, 3-1 at WKU). A sweep of WKU this weekend would mark the first time since the league started that the Cajuns would have swept FIU and WKU on the road.
ANOTHER 40-WIN SEASON:
With its sweep of Nicholls State on Wednesday, Louisiana-Lafayette picked up its 40th win of the 2005 season – marking a 40-win season for the seventh straight year (each year since 1999).
Dating back to the 1992 campaign, the Ragin' Cajuns have won at least 40 games in 13 of the last 14 seasons.
CAJUNS SWEEP WEEKLY SUN BELT HONORS AGAIN:
For the second straight week the 14th-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball program has swept the weekly Sun Belt Conference honors. Danyele Gomez was named Player of the Week while Brooke Mitchell was tabbed Pitcher of the Week by the league office following the Ragin' Cajuns (38-7, 12-0 Sun Belt) perfect 6-0 week which included another Sun Belt Conference series sweep.
Gomez (.348, 6 doubles, 13 home runs, 44 RBI) finished the week with a .526 batting average (10-for-19) collecting two doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI as she vaulted her way into the team lead for home runs (13) and RBI (14). In the North Texas sweep, Gomez hit .500 (6-for-12) with one double, two home runs and a team-high 9 RBI.
The Metairie native blasted two, three-run home runs in last Saturday's second game against NT as she recorded her third multi-home run game of the season and tied her career-high with six RBI. Her slugging percentage for the entire week was 1.105 as she piled up 21 total bases in 19 at bats. Gomez went 8-for-11 with runners in scoring position (.727) and contributed 9 two-out RBI.
Mitchell (24-6, 0.70 ERA, 302 K) extended her personal win streak to seven games with three victories last week helping her climb to No. 11 on the all-time NCAA Division I victories list. The senior ace hurler piled up 36 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .097 batting average and seven hits in three complete games. Mitchell tallied double digit strikeouts in all three appearances including a pair of 13-strikeout efforts in the Sun Belt series with North Texas. In the NT series, Mitchell was 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA allowing only five hits over 14 innings.
Her 11th strikeout in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader with North Texas was her 300th of the season allowing her to eclipse 300 strikeouts for the second straight season. Earlier in the week, Mitchell cracked the NCAA Division I all-time Top 10 strikeouts list with her second strikeouts in game one of the ULM doubleheader.
Mitchell now stands at 1,269 career strikeouts placing her 11 shy of tying former Louisiana-Monroe pitcher Sarah Dawson for ninth place on the NCAA DI career list.
The Ragin' Cajuns have now won 45 Sun Belt weekly honors in four-plus seasons under former Ragin' Cajuns All-American and current head coach Stefni Lotief.
FULL STEAM AHEAD!!! WINNING STREAK NOW AT SEASON-HIGH 18 GAMES:
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team has been gathering steam as of late. Since a 10-3 loss to then-No.2 Arizona on March 27, the Cajuns have won 18 straight games - a season best streak which has vaulted their record to 40-7 and tied for the longest win streak in the Lotief Era and third-longest in program history.
Louisiana-Lafayette's longest win streak under co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief is 18 straight set during the 2003 season (March 27-April 19) and again in the 2004 season (Feb. 8-Feb. 29). This season's streak marks the third straight season with an 18-game winning streak for co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief.
The school record for most consecutive wins is 24 set during the 1994 season. The record streak was accomplished from March 19-April 22, 1994. The streak came to an end on April 23 in a 5-4 loss to Louisiana Tech.
Should the Cajuns win out the rest of the regular season, they would extend their current winning streak to 26 games which would set the school record.
Below
is a look at the double-digit winning streaks in Cajuns
history (1981-2005):
1.
W24 - March 19-April
22, 1994
2. W19 - March 6-March
25, 1990
3.
W18
– March 29, 2005-present
W18 – Feb. 8-Feb. 29, 2004
W18 – March 27-April 19, 2003
W18 - March 24-April 20, 1999
7. W17 - March 30-April 16, 1995
8. W16 - March 2-March 17, 1996
W16 - March 28-April 23, 1996
10. W15 – April 24-May 20, 2004
W15 - Feb. 17-March 10, 2001
12. W14 - Feb. 20-March 7, 1993
13. W13 - March 3-March 21, 1995
W13 – March 24-April 18, 2004
15.
W12 -
April 7-April 24, 2002
W12 - April 13-May 5, 2001
W12 - March 8-March 18, 1994
W12 - Feb. 20-March 5, 1994
W12 - April 23-May 29, 1993
W12 - March 28-April 19, 1989
21. W11 – Feb. 4-Feb. 19, 2005
W11 - April 10-April 21, 1993
W11 - March 9-March 21, 1993
W11 - March 20-April 1, 1992
25. W10 - March 23-April 6, 1991
W10 - March 19-April 6, 1988
W10 - April 5-April 14, 1985
W10 - March 19-April 2, 1985
LAYING THE (GOOSE) EGGS:
Louisiana-Lafayette's pitching staff has posted 27 shutouts this season through 47 games played (over 50 percent of the total games played). The Cajuns have allowed just 37 earned runs in 305 1/3 innings this season and the pitching staff has an ERA of 0.85.
Junior ace hurler Brooke Mitchell has crafted 10 complete-game shutouts and has combined for seven more. At the NFCA Leadoff Classic, Mitchell no-hit DePaul (currently 16-2 in Conference USA and 30-14 overall) and tossed four-hit shutouts of San Diego State and North Carolina.
This season's shutout total gives Brooke Mitchell 40 complete-game shutouts in her career which gives her the third-most in program history trailing Kyla Hall's 56 and Stefni Whitton's (Lotief) 55.
The Cajuns pitching staff has notched 15 complete game shutouts (out of the 27) getting an additional five complete game shutouts from both Heather Bobbitt (three) and Ashley Kirchberg (two) combined.
In doubleheader action this season, the Cajuns have pitched 16 shutouts over a possible 24 games.
Last season (2004), the Cajuns pitching staff crafted 29 shutouts (out of 68 games). Brooke Mitchell accounted for 14 of those shutouts (solo) while combining for 10 other shutouts.
The Lotief Era record for most shutouts is 29 set during the 2004 season, while the school record is 36 set in the 1994 season.
THE CAJUNS' ALL-TIME WINNINGEST PITCHER – BROOKE MITCHELL:
With each passing victory, senior ace pitcher Brooke Mitchell continues to add to her school-record career victories total – a record which she set with a win in game one of the McNeese State doubleheader on March 9. Mitchell currently has 116 career victories against 26 losses (.817).
Former All-American Kyla Hall (1991-94) previously held the record with 104 wins. Mitchell tied the record on Saturday, March 5 against Louisiana Tech before breaking it on March 9 at McNeese State.
Louisiana-Lafayette Career Victories Top 5
1. 116
Brooke Mitchell (2002-present)
2.
104 Kyla Hall (1991-94)
3. 84 Melissa Coronado (1999-02)
4. 78 Stefni Whitton (1987-90)
5. 76 Jennifer Clendenin (1993-97)
YET ANOTHER SCHOOL RECORD FOR BROOKE:
Just when you thought Brooke Mitchell had set every Louisiana-Lafayette pitching record she breaks another one.
In last weekend's doubleheader with North Texas, Mitchell grabbed possession of the school's “innings pitched” record with the completion of her second inning of last Saturday's first game with North Texas.
The completion of that second inning in game one vs. North Texas was the 863rd inning pitched of her career – passing up former All-American Kyla Hall who had pitched 862 innings from 1991-94.
Entering this weekend's play, Mitchell has logged 883 career innings over 155 appearances (2002-present).
Louisiana-Lafayette
Career Innings Pitched Top 5
1.
883.0 Brooke Mitchell (2002-present)
2.
862.0 Kyla Hall (1991-94)
3. 747.0 Stefni Whitton (Lotief) (1987-90)
4. 723.0 Melissa Coronado (1999-2002)
5. 689.2 Kim Eisnaugle (1983-86)
DOUBLE-DIGIT STRIKEOUT INFO:
Brooke Mitchell collected her 20th double-digit strikeout games of the season on Wednesday at Nicholls State. Mitchell fanned 15 batters over eight innings and she averaged two per inning in regulation.
In Sun Belt play, Mitchell has reached double digit strikeouts five times (out of six games with five or more innings pitched).
Mitchell's double-digit strikeout total Wednesday at Nicholls State increased her career total to 62 games with double digit strikeouts. Combined with 29 double digit strikeout games as a junior in 2004, Mitchell has reached double digits in strikeouts 49 times in the last two seasons (her last 87 appearances).
HERE'S A STAT FOR YOU:
Thanks to the arrival of Heather Bobbitt as a solid No. 2 pitcher, Louisiana-Lafayette has been able to limit the number of innings that Brooke Mitchell has had to endure.
Through 47 games this season, Mitchell has pitched 187 1/3 innings of the total 305 1/3 the team has played (61 percent). Bobbitt has logged 78 innings and Ashley Kirchberg an additional 40 to provide some rest for Mitchell.
Through 47 games in the 2004 season, Mitchell had tossed 232 2/3 innings of the team's total 317 innings played (73 percent).
MITCHELL MOVING UP THE NCAA CAREER STRIKEOUTS LIST – NOW #9:
Brooke Mitchell tallied 15 more strikeouts on Wednesday at Nicholls State to increase her career total to 1,284 – a tally which currently ranks her No. 9 on the all-time NCAA Division I career strikeout list and further extended her Louisiana-Lafayette career record.
Her next target to pass up is current Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pitcher Sarah Pauly who holds down the No. 8 slot with 1,306 strikeouts. Although Pauly is still active, she will be idle until May 12 as TAMUCC is off until the start of the Big South Conference Tournament. Mitchell needs 18 more strikeouts to pass up Pauly.
The next “non-active” target for Mitchell is former UMass pitcher Danielle Henderson who is sixth with 1,343.
Mitchell climbed into the Top 10 Wednesday, April 20 at Louisiana-Monroe with her second strikeout of the game.
NCAA
DIVISION I STRIKEOUTS TOP 20 (as of Wednesday, April 20)
1.
Courtney Blades (Southern Miss/Nicholls
State) 1,773
2. Michelle Granger (California)
1,640
3.
Cat Osterman (Texas)
1,463
4.
Nicole Meyers (Florida
Atlantic) 1,376
5.
Britni Sneed (LSU) 1,370
6. Danielle Henderson (UMASS)
1,343
7.
Jessica Sallinger (Georgia
Tech)
1,331
8. Sarah Pauly (Texas
A&M-Corpus
Christi)
1,306
9. Brooke Mitchell
(Louisiana-Lafayette)
1,284
10.
Sarah Dawson (ULM)
1,280
11.
Shawn Andaya (Texas
A&M) 1,234
12.
Jamie Southern (Fresno
State) 1,232
13.
Amanda Renfro (Texas
Tech)
1,226
14.
Alicia Hollowell (Arizona)
1,223
15.
Jocelyn Forest
(California) 1,203
16.
Lisa Ishikawa
(Northwestern) 1,200
17. Trinity
Johnson (South
Carolina/CS-Fullerton) 1,163
18.
Andrea Kirchberg
(Wisconsin) 1,156
T19. Kristin Schmidt (Notre Dame/LSU)
1,154
Dana Sorensen
(Stanford)
1,154
12 OR MORE STRIKEOUTS IS THE KEY:
When Brooke Mitchell reaches 12 strikeouts the Ragin' Cajuns are undefeated (11-0) this season. Mitchell has tallied 12 or more strikeouts on 11 different occasions this season.
ARISING IN APRIL:
Louisiana-Lafayette is 16-0 this season in April after four-game sweeps of New Mexico State, Florida International and North Texas in Sun Belt Conference play included with doubleheader sweeps of Louisiana-Monroe and Nicholls State.
Under co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief, Louisiana-Lafayette has used April as a springboard to success in May each year. Since the Lotief's took over in 2001, the Ragin' Cajuns have gone 88-8 (.917) in the month of April.
Dating back to the 2003 season, the Cajuns have won 21 straight road games in the month of April. The last time the Cajuns lost on the road in April was Easter weekend 2003 when FIU swept 2-0, 2-1 on April 20, 2003.
THE MIDDLE INNINGS IS WHEN THEY WARM THE ENGINE UP:
Over the past four seasons under the coaches Lotief, the Ragin' Cajuns have been a team this is quick to start. For instance, last season Louisiana-Lafayette outscored opponents 169-44 in the first three innings.
This season, the Cajuns are taking a liking to the middle innings. In the third and fourth innings combined Louisiana-Lafayette is outscoring its opposition 106-12 including a 57-2 edge in the fourth inning.
SCORING FIRST USUALLY MEANS A VICTORY FOR THE CAJUNS:
Louisiana-Lafayette is 215-9 (.960) under co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief when scoring first. This season, the Ragin' Cajuns are 38-0 when scoring first.
The Cajuns have scored in the first inning 22 times this season and are outscoring opponents 57-7 in the first frame.
CAJUNS DOMINATE SUN BELT SERIES:
Dating back to the inception of the Sun Belt softball league, the Cajuns have NEVER lost a four-game series. The Cajuns have competed in 21 series and the closest they came to losing one was the only time they didn't win one – splitting with FIU in the 2003 season in Miami. Louisiana-Lafayette is 20-0-1 all-time in Sun Belt series.
LAST SEASON VS. WESTERN KENTUCKY:
GAME 1 – May 1-2, 2004 (game was suspended in bottom of the first inning on Saturday)
A pair of home runs from 2003 All-American Danyele Gomez paced No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette to a 9-2 win over Western Kentucky in the completion of Saturday's first game which was suspended by rain showers. The two teams began the game at 1 p.m. Saturday, but rain showers began falling and continued through the rest of the evening forcing the game to be completed Sunday afternoon.
Brooke Mitchell completed her return to the pitching circle by fanning 10 Hilltopper batters and allowing just one hit over five innings. Mitchell had missed the previous week after being hit by a line drive off the bat of FIU's Jennifer Owens April 18.
Louisiana-Lafayette carried a 3-1 lead when the game resumed. Second baseman Brittany Bryant hit a two-out, three-run home run in Saturday's action just before the game was delayed.
After a scoreless second inning, the Cajuns got back-to-back home runs from Tankersley and Gomez to increase the margin to 5-1 after three complete.
A leadoff single from Joy Webre opened a two-run fourth inning for Louisiana-Lafayette. Hillary Guidry laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Webre to second. Tiffany Hebert was then hit by a pitch from WKU starter Allison Silver. With Tankersley up next, WKU opted for a pitching change bringing in Ashley Schwartz for a relief outing. Schwartz hit Tankersely to load the bases and then issued walks to Gomez and Bryant to score two more runs and give the Cajuns a 7-1 lead.
A bases loaded, fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Renita Pennington scored Lindsay Gatti with the Hilltoppers second run of the game to trim the lead to 7-2.
Louisiana-Lafayette got the run back in the bottom half of the fifth on a two-out RBI single up the middle from Hebert. A leadoff home run in the sixth by Gomez, her second of the game, finished off the scoring and gave the Cajuns a 9-2 lead.
GAME 2 – May 2, 2004
Tiffany Grayson had many a clutch hit during her four-year career with No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette.
In the first game of Sunday's regularly scheduled doubleheader with visiting Western Kentucky the senior outfielder pulled off another huge hit sending a three-run home run over the left center field wall to ignite a four-run sixth inning which helped the host-Cajuns (47-6, 13-0 Sun Belt) pick up a 6-3 victory here Sunday afternoon at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park.
Grayson's home run, her second of the season, erased a 3-2 Western Kentucky lead
Grayson finished the game 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI as the Cajuns nine-hole hitter. Freshman Holly Tankersley had an identical 3-for-3 outing driving home two runs and hitting her team-leading 15th home run of the season.
The Hilltoppers struck first with a run in the second inning. A bases loaded bloop single by pinch hitter Natasha Sevco brought home pinch runner Jessica Ballance for a 1-0 lead. Sevco pinch hit for Dana Rey with a full count after Rey was struck in the face by a rebounding foul ball and forced to leave the game.
Grayson led off the inning with a double into the left field corner. Hillary Guidry pinch hit for Tiffany Hebert to execute the sacrifice bunt and would reach first base when Sevco's throw went wild and to the left of Shelly Floyd covering at first base. The ball rolled down the right field line allowing Grayson to score for a 2-1 lead.
WKU took the lead off Richardson's home run in top half of the sixth, but errors by Sevco in the bottom half of the inning led to four unearned runs for the Cajuns.
GAME 3 – May 2, 2004
Freshman Holly Tankersley pitched five innings of two-hit softball and aided her cause by driving in four runs at the plate as No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette completed a three-game sweep of Western Kentucky with a 9-1 run-rule rout here Sunday evening at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park in the two teams' series finale.
Tankersley held WKU to two hits and struck out six and an inning later after being relieved by Heather Bobbitt drove home the game-ending runs with a two-RBI double. The Kirbyville, Texas, native ended the game 2-for-4 with a home run, double, two runs scored and four RBI.
The Cajuns wasted no time, scoring two runs in the first off a key error by the Hilltoppers.
UL Lafayette catcher Joy Webre, celebrating her birthday, gave the Cajuns their third run of the contest with a solo home run the next inning. The home run was the junior's 10th of the season.
Louisiana-Lafayette added two more runs in the third when Lacey Bertucci singled down the left field line to score Tiffany Grayson and Brittany Bryant. Bryant collected a one-out single and Grayson reached on a throwing error from Bailey Rolfs to set up Bertucci's RBI base hit.
Tankersley hit her 16th home run of the season, and third of the day, in the Cajuns next at bat to produce a 7-0 margin.
RUNYAN MAKING IT LOOK EASY:
Not only does shortstop Codi Runyan make the abnormal plays look easy with her great range, she's doing it with almost near-perfection.
In 18 games started, Runyan has gone 55 straight fielding chances with only three errors committed (30 putouts, 22 assists, 3 errors).
Prior to committing the first-ever error of her career last Saturday in game one against North Texas, Runyan had started her career with 44 consecutive errorless chances.
THE LEADER OF THE PACK:
Senior center fielder Jill Robertson is making the most of her senior season. The Acadiana High product leads Louisiana-Lafayette with a .356 batting average, 39 runs scored and is second on the team with 48 base hits. Her runs scored total is also tops amongst all Sun Belt Conference players.
BOBBITT'S BOUCNING BACK:
Since returning from the KIA Klassic, Heather Bobbitt has pitched 46 innings allowing only 23 hits and three (3) earned runs; during the stretch she has 9-0 record and 0.46 ERA while fanning 50 batters and walking only six (6).
Bobbitt's post-KIA Klassic performances have lowered her ERA just over one full point - going from 2.62 to the current 1.35.
During the stretch she's held every opponent below five hits and has surrendered only three extra base hits (all doubles) over a stretch of 161 consecutive opponent's at bats.
A SOLID 1-2 PUNCH IN SUN BELT PLAY:
Brooke Mitchell and Heather Bobbitt have shared the pitching duties in Sun Belt play and have give the opponent little to work with.
Both are 6-0 while Mitchell leads the way with a 0.32 ERA followed by Bobbitt's 0.45 ERA.
The two combined have surrendered only 28 hits over 75 innings, 98 strikeouts and have surrendered only four earned runs.
CAJUNS VS. MIDWEST REGION TEAMS…
Louisiana-Lafayette is 25-2 this season against teams from the NCAA Midwest Region. The Midwest Region includes teams from the Big 12, Missouri Valley, Southland and Sun Belt Conferences.
Louisiana-Lafayette has eight (8) more games scheduled against Midwest Region teams including this weekend's series with Western Kentucky. 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.
HERE'S A STAT FOR YOU:
In 170 plate appearances senior center fielder Jill Robertson has struck out only 14 times. Robertson has 22 walks and 14 strikeouts for a .464 on-base percentage. This is a marked improvement after striking out 34 times as a sophomore and 31 times as a junior.
THE BIG 40:
We're not talking about someone's age. What we are talking about is the total number of career home runs hit by junior right fielder Danyele Gomez.
Gomez clubbed her 40th career home run on Sunday, March 27 against No. 2 Arizona off of Alicia Hollowell.
The Metairie native joined two former All-Americans – Alana Addison (57) and Stephanie DeFeo (43) – as the only players in program history to reach the 40-home run plateau.
Gomez recently passed up DeFeo for second place on the Cajuns all-time career home run listing. Gomez's 11th home run of the season came in a doubleheader sweep at Louisiana-Monroe and was also the 44th of her career which passed up DeFeo's 43.
Currently with 46 career home runs, Gomez is now within striking distance of the NCAA Division I all-time Top 20 career home run listing. She trails former UCLA All-American Claire Sua who hit 50 from 2001-04 to rank No. 20 on the list. Gomez now trails Louisiana-Lafayette career home run leader Alana Addison by 11 home runs (Addison hit 57 from 1999-2002) with her senior season still to come.
AHEAD OF THE PACE:
Junior second baseman Brittany Bryant is on pace to reach 50 hits in a single season for the first time in her career. Bryant has 45 hits over 47 games – her previous best was 48 last season in 68 games. With at least 15 games left to play this season (eight regular season plus postseason), Bryant should have a new personal best.
NEARING A PERSONAL MILESTONE (JILL ROBERTSON):
Jill Robertson has scored 191 career runs which ranks her No. 4 on the all-time runs scored list in Louisiana-Lafayette history. The Lafayette native trails Tiffany Clark (200) by nine (9) runs for third place. Robertson will join Clark, Alana Addison (216) and Jerie Alexander (230) as the only players in the program to score 200-plus runs.
THIS N' THAT…
*** The Cajuns offense has pounded out double-digit base hits in 11 games this season.
*** The Cajuns pitching staff has allowed just 147 hits over 305 1/3 innings. Cajuns pitching has held every opponent to single digit hits in each game (47 total).
*** The Cajuns pitching staff has surrendered just 37 earned runs over 305 1/3 innings of work this season. The staff ERA after 12 weekends of play is 0.85 and opponent's batting average is .141.
*** The Cajuns pitching staff has posted double-digit strikeouts in all but 19 games this season. Cajuns pitchers have fanned 471 opposing batters in 305 1/3 innings of play. The Cajuns pitching staff is averaging 10.80 strikeouts per game.
*** TWO-OUT MAGIC: Continuing a trend from recent seasons, the Cajuns have already racked up 106 two-out RBI, collecting five more at Nicholls State on Wednesday. Lacey Bertucci is leading the charge with 19 two-out RBI. This season's total makes it two straight seasons with 100-plus two-out RBI (had 114 last season). Last weekend against North Texas, the Cajuns pushed across 16 two-out RBI.
Joining Bertucci with double digit 2-out RBI are the following: Danyele Gomez (16), Brittany Bryant (15), Joy Webre (11), Jill Robertson (10) and Ashley Evans (10).
*** Cajuns pitching has held the opposition to a paltry 26-of-222 (.117) with runners in scoring position. Conversely, the Ragin' Cajuns are hitting 123-of-384 (.320) with runners in scoring position. In 12 doubleheaders this season, the Cajuns are hitting 62-of-179 (.346) with runners in scoring position. In Sun Belt Conference play, Louisiana-Lafayette is batting .384 (28-of-73) with runners in scoring position.
*** Jill Robertson has a team-best .484 average with runners in scoring position (15-for-31). Danyele Gomez leads all Ragin' Cajuns hitters with 20 hits with runners in scoring position. During the week of April 18-24, Gomez was 8-of-11 (.727) with runners in scoring position.
*** Danyele Gomez currently has 13 home runs this season moving her career total to 46. Gomez became just the third player in program history to reach 40 home runs (joining Stephanie DeFeo and Alana Addison) when she hit a three-run home run off of Alicia Hollowell on Sunday, March 27. Gomez passed up DeFeo on Wednesday, April 20 at ULM into second place by herself with her 44th career dinger. Gomez now trails Alana Addison by 11 home runs with her senior season still left to play.
*** IT'S TRULY A TEAM EFFORT: Continuing a trend from last season, the Cajuns offense is balanced from top to bottom. Ten (10) players have at least 10 hits, 10 players have scored at least 10 runs and nine (9) players have at least 10 RBI. Nine (9) players have reached 20-plus hits led by a team-best 47 hits from Danyele Gomez.
*** CAJUNS VS. RANKED TEAMS: Louisiana-Lafayette is 0-5 this season versus ranked teams. The Cajuns have faced No. 16 Georgia (L, 1-2) at the Leadoff Classic, No. 9 Oklahoma (L, 3-7) at the KIA Klassic, No. 21 Arizona State (L, 1-5) at the KIA Klassic and No. 2 Arizona this past weekend (L, 0-2; L, 3-10).
*** FIVE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Louisiana-Lafayette is 24-0 this season when scoring five runs or more. Conversely, the Cajuns are just 5-5 when scoring one run or less.
*** MILESTONES WATCH: Joy Webre has reached 100 runs in her career, getting the milestone on her third and final run of the North Texas series…Webre also got her 30th home run of her career in last Saturday's second game with North Texas…Jill Robertson picked up her 100th career RBI during the North Texas series and now has 101 for her career…Brittany Bryant picked up her 100th career RBI with a solo home run in game two of last Saturday's second game with North Texas and now has 103 career RBI…Jill Robertson picked up her 200th career hit in Wednesday's doubleheader at Nicholls State…Robertson needs four (4) more doubles to reach the Top 5 in program history.
*** ALL OR NOTHING: Louisiana-Lafayette has never lost an early lead this season and has never rallied for a deficit either. The Cajuns are 33-0 when leading after four innings and 0-6 when trailing.
*** THEY CAN WIN THE CLOSE ONES AS WELL: The Cajuns are 8-2 in one-run games this season.
*** PLAYING PERFECT USUALLY MEANS A VICTORY: Louisiana-Lafayette is 21-0 this season when the defense does not commit an error.
*** GETTING IT GOING EARLY: Like teams from the 2003 and 2004 seasons, this season's Cajuns team is beginning to score runs early. Louisiana-Lafayette has scored in the first inning nine times in the last 14 outings. In Sun Belt play, the Cajuns hold a 13-0 edge in the first inning alone.
*** COULD THIS RECORD BE IN JEOPARDY??? The Cajuns pitching staff has tossed 27 shutouts through 47 games. There are still eight (8) regular season games left plus the Sun Belt Tournament and NCAA Tournament action. The all-time school record for shutouts in a single season was 36 set during the 1994 season.
*** RUNYAN IS HELPING CAJUNS MAKE A “RUN”: Since Codi Runyan joined the starting lineup on March 29 against Louisiana-Monroe, the Ragin' Cajuns are undefeated. Louisiana-Lafayette is 18-0 with Runyan as the starting shortstop.
*** RECOVERING FROM A ROUGH TIME: After allowing 13 earned runs over 27 innings for a 3.37 ERA during the KIA Klassic March 17-20. Since that time, through 20 games, the pitching staff has held opponents to just 10 earned runs over 131 innings which included two games against No. 2 Arizona in which the squad gave up only three (3) earned runs. The staff ERA since the KIA Klassic is 0.53 and the team record is 18-2.
THE SUN BELT'S DYNASTY…
Like the Chicago Bulls of the early and late 1990s or Tennessee and Connecticut in women's basketball, Louisiana-Lafayette is quickly becoming the dynasty of the Sun Belt Conference's softball league.
Since the league began play in 2001, the Ragin' Cajuns have won the regular season and tournament titles each year – the only champion that the league has ever known.
Louisiana-Lafayette is 77-5 (.939) all-time in Sun Belt play and has posted a 16-0 record in the league's postseason tournament.
The Ragin' Cajuns have participated in 21 Sun Belt series since joining the league and have never lost one (20-0-1). The only time UL Lafayette failed to win a series was when the Cajuns split a four-game set at FIU during the 2003 season.
Last season, the Cajuns became the first team in league history to march through the regular season schedule undefeated. Louisiana-Lafayette finished the 2004 SBC slate at 18-0.
The Ragin' Cajuns entered the 2005 season riding a 21-game regular season winning streak in Sun Belt games – the last conference loss coming on May 3, 2003 at Western Kentucky (L, 2-3 in 8 innings).
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE YEAR-BY-YEAR SUN BELT RECORDS
2001 19-1 .950
2002 15-1 .938
2003 13-3 .813
2004 18-0 1.000
2005 12-0 1.000
Totals
77-5
.939
DID YOU KNOW???
The Ragin' Cajuns softball team has appeared in the NCAA Regionals in 14 of the last 15 seasons and the last six straight (1999-present)…UL Lafayette appeared in the 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2003 Women's College World Series…The 2003 appearance in the WCWS marked the fourth in program history and first under head coach Stefni Lotief.
DID YOU KNOW???
The Louisiana-Lafayette softball program has produced 33 All-Americans and 14 Academic All-Americans since the 1989 season…Current head coach Stefni Lotief was the first All-American in Cajuns softball history and was the first first-team member as well…Last season, Brooke Mitchell was named a first team All-American marking the sixth straight season that the Cajuns have had at least one All-American and 15th in the last 16 seasons.
1,000 WINS:
The Ragin' Cajuns Softball program joined an elusive club and reached a historic milestone with a sweep of in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday, April 20. The game one victory was the 1,000th in the 25-year history of the program.
The Cajuns joined the likes of Arizona, UCLA, California, Cal State Fullerton, Florida State, South Carolina, Arizona State and Michigan as programs in NCAA Division I that have reached 1,000 wins.
In the midst of the 25th anniversary season in program history, Louisiana-Lafayette sports an all-time record of 1,007-299 (.771).
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
