University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
It's Cajuns vs. Sooners in Battle for Championship Sunday Berth
5/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
NORMAN,
Okla. – The two teams which
met on Championship Sunday for a berth in the 2004 Women's
College World Series in Tucson, Ariz., will do battle on
Saturday, May 21 for a berth in the 2005 NCAA Regional No.
14 Championship Sunday.
No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette (51-8) will square off with host-Oklahoma (48-15) here at the OU Softball Complex in a 1 p.m. winner's bracket final with a bid into Sunday's championship round on the line.
The Ragin' Cajuns reached Saturday's winner's bracket game by using its home run arsenal to ease past Oregon 7-5. Louisiana-Lafayette tied the NCAA Tournament single-game record with four home runs.
The Sooners assured the rematch by getting a two-hit shutout from Kami Keiter in a 2-0 win over Wichita State.
Louisiana-Lafayette and OU met in the Tucson Regional on Championship Sunday last season. The Ragin' Cajuns, riding the momentum of three consecutive elimination game victories, stormed out of the gate with a 12-4 victory which set up the “if necessary” game for the WCWS berth. The Cajuns ran out of gas playing their seventh game in four days under the sweltering Arizona sun – OU took the “if necessary” game 15-0 in five innings.
The Cajuns and Sooners met earlier this season with OU posting a 7-3 victory on March 17 at the KIA Klassic in Fullerton, Calif.
The two programs will be meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the third time. The series is 1-1 in NCAA Tournament play with last season's meeting in Tucson marking the first time the two teams met in postseason play.
Louisiana-Lafayette is seeking its 12th appearance in Championship Sunday. In each season that the Cajuns played an NCAA Regional on the road under co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief the squad has advanced to Championship Sunday.
All of the action from Saturday's winner's bracket game can be heard on SportsRadio ESPN 1420-KPEL AM in the Lafayette market. The game can be picked up via the World Wide Web at www.sportsnoteradio.com by clicking on the “listen live” link.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
