Quest For First National Title Begins in Cajun's Backyard

Contact: Cory Weigel

Game Notes

Date: May 18-20
Location: Lafayette, La.
Site: Lamson Park
Radio: ESPN 1420 (KPEL)
Live Stats/Webstream: www.ragincajuns.com
Opponents: No. 2 Seed – Stanford
                    No. 3 Seed – Baylor
                    No. 4 Seed – Mississippi Valley State

THE SCHEDULE:

Friday, May 18
3:30 p.m.          Game 1 - #2 Stanford vs. Baylor
6:00 p.m.          Game 2 - #1 Louisiana vs. Mississippi Valley State

Saturday, May 19
1:00 p.m.          Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
3:30 p.m.          Game 4 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
6:00 p.m.          Game 5 – Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Sunday, May 20
1:00 p.m.          Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
3:30 p.m.          Game 7 – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6

BACK HOME AGAIN IN LAFAYETTE
Louisiana will host their ninth regional in Lafayette and first since 2002. The Cajuns are 2-6 all-time hosting regionals with titles coming in back-to-back seasons in 1995 and 1996.

REGIONAL HISTORY
This year marks the 22nd overall and 14th consecutive regional appearance for the Ragin' Cajuns. The softball program has won six regionals in school history and hold a 52-44 (.542) all-time record. UL's last regional title came back in 2010 in the Baton Rouge Regional.

OPPONENT HISTORY
Louisiana is 6-0 all-time against Mississippi Valley State, including a 21-0 victory this season over the Devilettes on Feb. 12. The Cajuns hold a 7-6 career advantage over Baylor, who most recently defeated UL twice in the 2009 Waco Regional. Louisiana and Stanford have met just one time in the history of the programs, which came back on March 4, 2000, where the Cardinals came out on top, 2-1

ORGERON AND MYERS TABBED AS ALL-AMERICANS
College Sports Madness named Christi Orgeron and Nerissa Myers to their All-American Teams. Orgeron was selected to the first team, while Myers was recognized on the third team.

ANOTHER CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Ragin' Cajuns clinched their 11th Sun Belt Regular Season Conference Championship in the league's 12-year history. UL has won five straight league titles.

CAJUNS SET RECORD FOR MOST CONFERENCE VICTORIES
UL finished conference play 21-3, posting the most victories in Sun Belt history. The Cajuns completed the regular season with an overall record of 46-3, marking just the second time in program history the team dropped just three games all year long - 1994 squad finished the regular season 57-3.

UL AMONG BEST WINNING PROGRAMS LAST FOUR YEARS
The Cajuns have compiled a 187-45 (.806) record over the last four years. That ranks fifth in the country only behind Missouri (.808), Arizona State (.813), Alabama (.841) and Florida (.848).

MYERS PACES COUNTRY IN RUNS
The junior shortstop leads the nation with 76 runs scored this season. She is two away from breaking the UL and SBC record of 77, which she tied last season.

RELAY TEAM
Murphy, Fernandez, Smith and Myers have all stolen at least 15 bases on the year, combining to steal 73-of-84 attempts.Katie Smith ranks third all-time in UL and SBC history with 88. Erikka Murphy was caught stealing on Wednesday against FAU for the first time in 50 attempts, which is tied for the 12th longest streak in NCAA history. Murphy ranks fourth in school history, stealing 76-of-78 (.974) bags in her career. As a team, Louisiana is 102-of-116 on the year, having swiped their first 40 bags successfully.

CONSECUTIVE STARTS
The Cajuns have had three players start all 53 games this year, Cormier, Orgeron and Myers, and the trio each have a 100+ game starting streak. Cormier has started 103 straight games, including the last 50 of 2011. Orgeron has started 146 straight going back three seasons and has only missed two games over the last three seasons (176 of 178, starting all 174). Myers owns the longest streak, starting 162 straight since missing the game vs. Drake on March 5, 2010.

EIGHT CAJUNS NAMED ALL-SBC
Christi Orgeron and Ashley Brignac were named Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectfully, for the second consecutive year. Jordan Wallace was selected as the Freshman of the Year and co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief garnered Coaches of the Year. (See Page 3 to view the rest of the Cajuns on All-SBC).

WALLACE SETS NCAA MARK
Jordan Wallace got off to the best start for a pitcher during her freshman year in NCAA history at 23-0. She surpassed Texas A&M's Amanda Scarbrough and Florida's Stephanie Brombacher marks of 20-0, which were set in their freshman campaigns in 2005 and 2008, respectively.

ORGERON TIES GRAND SLAM RECORDS
Christi Orgeron is tied with Serena Settliemier (Kansas, 2006) for the NCAA single season record with sixth grand slams on the year. She also is tied with Francesca Enea (Florida, 2007-10) with nine slams in her career. UL has hit 10 grand slams as a team this season.

ORGERON SITS SIXTH ON CAREER RBI LIST
The senior broke the school RBI record against Georgia Tech (3/22) and leads the country for the second consecutive season with 91 this year. She ranks sixth all time in NCAA history with 285 in her career - just 8 shy from equaling fifth place.

MILESTONE COUNTDOWN
Stefni Lotief is three wins short of 600 with 597 career victories in 12 years. Michael Lotief is four wins shy of 500 with 497 victories in his 10 year tenure.

NCAA'S TOP OFFENSE
The Cajuns led the nation in scoring last year and are on their way to repeating the accomplishment this year. UL tops the nation in runs scored (430) and runs per game (8.11).

RAGIN' CAJUNS SOFTBALL ON FACEBOOK
Like the Ragin' Cajuns softball fan page on facebook to access more information and receive updated news on the team.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Quest For First National Title Begins in Cajun's Backyard

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