University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Friday, March 11
Lafayette
4:00 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
vs
Georgia State
No. 22 Louisiana Continues Homestand at Lamson, Starts Sun Belt Play
3/10/2022 9:07:00 PM | Softball
Ragin' Cajuns welcome Georgia State for conference-opening series starting Friday at 4 p.m.
No. 22 Louisiana (13-4, 0-0 Sun Belt) vs. Georgia State (7-12, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Dates: Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, 2022
Location: Lafayette, La.
Stadium: Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park
Series Schedule:
     Fri., March 11 – 4 p.m. (CST)
     Sat., March 12 – 2 p.m. (CST)
     Sun., March 13 – 12 p.m. (CDT)
MEDIA INFORMATION
Season Stats (PDF): Louisiana | Georgia State
Rosters: Louisiana | Georgia State
Schedule/Results: Louisiana | Georgia State
Television: None
Radio:Â ESPN Lafayette 103.3 FM // 1420 AM Â |Â Talent: Steve Peloquin, PxP; Bobby Neveaux, analyst
Live Audio: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats:Â Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Twitter Updates:Â @RaginCajunsSB
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THE BASICS
>> No. 22 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball (13-4, 0-0 Sun Belt) continues its current six-game homestand, and starts Sun Belt Conference play, hosting Georgia State (7-12, 0-0 Sun Belt) from Friday-Sunday, March 11-13 at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
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>> Due to expected inclement weather in the late-evening hours on Friday in the Lafayette area, the series opener was moved up to 4 p.m. The remainder of the weekend schedule remains the same (Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.).
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>> The Ragin' Cajuns opened the homestand on Wednesday, March 9 capturing a 5-3 win over I-10 neighbor McNeese.
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>> The GSU series is the middle portion of the homestand that concludes on Wednesday, March 16 with a doubleheader against Texas.
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>> The weekend series also continues a season-opening stretch in which the Ragin' Cajuns play 22 consecutive games inside the state of Louisiana's borders. The squad isn't scheduled to travel out-of-state until a Sun Belt series at Georgia Southern set for Friday-Sunday, March 18-20.
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>> It's the start of the 22nd season of softball within the Sun Belt Conference. The Ragin' Cajuns have captured their Sun Belt-opening series in all but four of the seasons (2007, 2008, 2009, 2013) since the league began sponsoring softball in 2001.
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>> Louisiana, the two-time defending regular season champion, begins its Sun Belt Conference title defense and the quest for the program's 18th regular season SBC title.
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>> The Ragin' Cajuns carry an active streak of 64 consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won into the GSU series – the nation's longest active streak, which dates back to March 2013. Â
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A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MATCHUP
>> Louisiana owns a 31-3 series lead all-time over Georgia State, overall. The record includes a 20-1 advantage in Sun Belt regular season meetings.
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>> The Ragin' Cajuns have swept six of the seven Sun Belt series since GSU joined the league in 2014.
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>> The Ragin' Cajuns swept the previous three SBC series held at Lamson Park (2015, 2017, 2019) and sport a 10-0 mark against the Panthers on their home turf.
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NUMBERS TO KNEAUX
1: Only one run was allowed to LSU by Meghan Schorman in the 8-1/3 innings of relief she pitched in the two matchups last week.
1: Louisiana's pitching staff has yielded only one home run to the opposition through 103 innings.
.188: The Ragin' Cajuns pitching staff has held the opposition to a sub-.200 average the entire season. Opponents are hitting .188 entering Sun Belt-opening weekend.
2: In relief efforts the past two weeks, starting on March 3 vs. LSU, the Ragin' Cajuns pitchers have yielded only two runs over 18 innings (2 runs, 10 hits, 27 strikeouts).
2.81: Louisiana entered the week ranked No. 4 nationally averaging 2.81 stolen bases per game (45 swipes in 16 games).
4: Kandra Lamb's no-hitter of Central Connecticut on March 4 marked the fourth such occurrence of her career (two no-hitters as a freshman in 2019, plus two no-hitters in 2022).
6: Stormy Kotzelnick leads the Ragin' Cajuns with six multiple-hit games. She's also the team leader with five multiple-RBI games.
8: Number of shutouts posted by Louisiana's pitching staff.
8: The Ragin' Cajuns offense has produced double-digit hits in eight games.
12: Louisiana has posted 12 of its season total of 14 home runs at Lamson Park.
12: The run plated in the first inning on Wednesday vs. McNeese marked the 12th time (in 17 games) that Louisiana scored first.
12-0: Louisiana's record when scoring first.
13: Of the 14 innings at the plate against LSU pitching in the two matchups in the Louisiana/LSU Invitational, the Ragin' Cajuns had at least one base runner in 13 innings.
30-2/3: Louisiana's pitching staff started the 2022 season with 30-2/3 consecutive scoreless innings pitched.
37: Louisiana is scheduled to play 37 games this season within the state of Louisiana's borders.
.375: Batting average for the Ragin' Cajuns offense after the season's first 17 games.
.563: Season batting average for Samantha Graeter following Wednesday's performance vs. McNeese (hitting 9-for-16).
67/42: The Ragin' Cajuns hitters have drawn more walks (67) than they have struck out (42).
125: Consecutive editions of the Top 25 polls that Louisiana has appeared in – a streak which dates back to April 2013.
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A QUICK LOOK AT THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Infield: Ready to be Louisiana's next primary catcher, Sophie Piskos is back with her infectious energy and enthusiasm and is ready to build upon last season's strong finish (hit .429 from April 20 onward). Back from injury, Taylor Roman made a strong case for covering the first base bag after turning in three triples, a home run and eight RBI on Opening Weekend. With a recent 11-game hitting streak and a .500-plus average, Stormy Kotzelnick penciled herself into the lineup at second base. Power 5 transfer Jourdyn Campbell (Texas A&M) entered the season as the front runner at third base and has held her spot. At shortstop, freshman Alexa Langeliers was the Opening Day starter and was there the entire weekend due to an impressive.429 showing at the plate which included a pair of home runs vs. UAB. Melissa Mayeux provides Louisiana with the flexibility to play all infield positions, and even serve as backup catcher for Piskos.
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Outfield: The Ragin' Cajuns have their "rock" back in center field in Raina O'Neal. O'Neal, who missed the final three months of the 2021 season due to injury, provides a tremendous boost defensively and offensively (has hit .300-plus and slugged .500-plus all three previous seasons with Louisiana). Freshman Maddie Hayden, the younger sister of four-time All-Sun Belt and All-Central Region performer Haley Hayden, has used her speed and recent hot streak – hit .619 with three doubles, two triples and five stolen bases from Feb. 13-27 – at the plate to emerge as Louisiana's patrolman in left field. Senior Jenna Kean is the team's primary speed option in the stolen base department and is the veteran of a rotation in right field that includes freshmen Kramer Eschete, Kayla Falterman and Samantha Graeter. In recent games the freshman trio has alternated starts, with Kean replacing them defensively following a pinch-running situation.
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Pitchers: The coaches expect a true "pitching staff" in the circle to be the norm throughout the season. Kandra Lamb, who pitched a three-hit shutout of LSU in her final start of the 2021 season, is ready to take her turn as the leader. Kentucky-transfer Meghan Schorman and freshman Sam Landry are expected to round out the rotation of "starters" with Lamb. Schorman was off to a 7-1 start with a 1.30 ERA before the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, while Landry was the No. 4-rated recruit by Extra Inning Softball and shined in last summer's Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) High School Senior All-American Game. Vanessa Foreman and Karly Heath should play a role in relief assignments to further deepen the staff approach.
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DIAMOND NOTES
ABOUT LOUISIANA
During the 2021 season, the Ragin' Cajuns reached the 40-win mark for the 22nd consecutive completed season, closing out the regular season winning 25 of the final 29 games, and advanced to Championship Sunday of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. Louisiana repeated as Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament champions highlighted by an 11-1 record, regular season and tournament combined, against the league's other three NCAA Tournament participants (Texas State, Troy and South Alabama).
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Moving forward into the 2022 season, Louisiana is armed with the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class of the 2021 recruits by Extra Inning Softball including the No. 4-rated recruit in pitcher Sam Landry and No. 15-rated recruit in outfielder Maddie Hayden, has first team All-Sun Belt performer Kandra Lamb back in the circle seeking to pick up where Summer Ellyson left off, and welcomes back Raina O'Neal and Taylor Roman and their power bats back to the lineup
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FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB) and Instagram (@Louisiana.SB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Softball.
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
-- RaginCajuns.com --
Dates: Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, 2022
Location: Lafayette, La.
Stadium: Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park
Series Schedule:
     Fri., March 11 – 4 p.m. (CST)
     Sat., March 12 – 2 p.m. (CST)
     Sun., March 13 – 12 p.m. (CDT)
MEDIA INFORMATION
Season Stats (PDF): Louisiana | Georgia State
Rosters: Louisiana | Georgia State
Schedule/Results: Louisiana | Georgia State
Television: None
Radio:Â ESPN Lafayette 103.3 FM // 1420 AM Â |Â Talent: Steve Peloquin, PxP; Bobby Neveaux, analyst
Live Audio: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats:Â Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Twitter Updates:Â @RaginCajunsSB
Â
THE BASICS
>> No. 22 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball (13-4, 0-0 Sun Belt) continues its current six-game homestand, and starts Sun Belt Conference play, hosting Georgia State (7-12, 0-0 Sun Belt) from Friday-Sunday, March 11-13 at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
Â
>> Due to expected inclement weather in the late-evening hours on Friday in the Lafayette area, the series opener was moved up to 4 p.m. The remainder of the weekend schedule remains the same (Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.).
Â
>> The Ragin' Cajuns opened the homestand on Wednesday, March 9 capturing a 5-3 win over I-10 neighbor McNeese.
Â
>> The GSU series is the middle portion of the homestand that concludes on Wednesday, March 16 with a doubleheader against Texas.
Â
>> The weekend series also continues a season-opening stretch in which the Ragin' Cajuns play 22 consecutive games inside the state of Louisiana's borders. The squad isn't scheduled to travel out-of-state until a Sun Belt series at Georgia Southern set for Friday-Sunday, March 18-20.
Â
>> It's the start of the 22nd season of softball within the Sun Belt Conference. The Ragin' Cajuns have captured their Sun Belt-opening series in all but four of the seasons (2007, 2008, 2009, 2013) since the league began sponsoring softball in 2001.
Â
>> Louisiana, the two-time defending regular season champion, begins its Sun Belt Conference title defense and the quest for the program's 18th regular season SBC title.
Â
>> The Ragin' Cajuns carry an active streak of 64 consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won into the GSU series – the nation's longest active streak, which dates back to March 2013. Â
Â
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MATCHUP
>> Louisiana owns a 31-3 series lead all-time over Georgia State, overall. The record includes a 20-1 advantage in Sun Belt regular season meetings.
Â
>> The Ragin' Cajuns have swept six of the seven Sun Belt series since GSU joined the league in 2014.
Â
>> The Ragin' Cajuns swept the previous three SBC series held at Lamson Park (2015, 2017, 2019) and sport a 10-0 mark against the Panthers on their home turf.
Â
NUMBERS TO KNEAUX
1: Only one run was allowed to LSU by Meghan Schorman in the 8-1/3 innings of relief she pitched in the two matchups last week.
1: Louisiana's pitching staff has yielded only one home run to the opposition through 103 innings.
.188: The Ragin' Cajuns pitching staff has held the opposition to a sub-.200 average the entire season. Opponents are hitting .188 entering Sun Belt-opening weekend.
2: In relief efforts the past two weeks, starting on March 3 vs. LSU, the Ragin' Cajuns pitchers have yielded only two runs over 18 innings (2 runs, 10 hits, 27 strikeouts).
2.81: Louisiana entered the week ranked No. 4 nationally averaging 2.81 stolen bases per game (45 swipes in 16 games).
4: Kandra Lamb's no-hitter of Central Connecticut on March 4 marked the fourth such occurrence of her career (two no-hitters as a freshman in 2019, plus two no-hitters in 2022).
6: Stormy Kotzelnick leads the Ragin' Cajuns with six multiple-hit games. She's also the team leader with five multiple-RBI games.
8: Number of shutouts posted by Louisiana's pitching staff.
8: The Ragin' Cajuns offense has produced double-digit hits in eight games.
12: Louisiana has posted 12 of its season total of 14 home runs at Lamson Park.
12: The run plated in the first inning on Wednesday vs. McNeese marked the 12th time (in 17 games) that Louisiana scored first.
12-0: Louisiana's record when scoring first.
13: Of the 14 innings at the plate against LSU pitching in the two matchups in the Louisiana/LSU Invitational, the Ragin' Cajuns had at least one base runner in 13 innings.
30-2/3: Louisiana's pitching staff started the 2022 season with 30-2/3 consecutive scoreless innings pitched.
37: Louisiana is scheduled to play 37 games this season within the state of Louisiana's borders.
.375: Batting average for the Ragin' Cajuns offense after the season's first 17 games.
.563: Season batting average for Samantha Graeter following Wednesday's performance vs. McNeese (hitting 9-for-16).
67/42: The Ragin' Cajuns hitters have drawn more walks (67) than they have struck out (42).
125: Consecutive editions of the Top 25 polls that Louisiana has appeared in – a streak which dates back to April 2013.
Â
A QUICK LOOK AT THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Infield: Ready to be Louisiana's next primary catcher, Sophie Piskos is back with her infectious energy and enthusiasm and is ready to build upon last season's strong finish (hit .429 from April 20 onward). Back from injury, Taylor Roman made a strong case for covering the first base bag after turning in three triples, a home run and eight RBI on Opening Weekend. With a recent 11-game hitting streak and a .500-plus average, Stormy Kotzelnick penciled herself into the lineup at second base. Power 5 transfer Jourdyn Campbell (Texas A&M) entered the season as the front runner at third base and has held her spot. At shortstop, freshman Alexa Langeliers was the Opening Day starter and was there the entire weekend due to an impressive.429 showing at the plate which included a pair of home runs vs. UAB. Melissa Mayeux provides Louisiana with the flexibility to play all infield positions, and even serve as backup catcher for Piskos.
Â
Outfield: The Ragin' Cajuns have their "rock" back in center field in Raina O'Neal. O'Neal, who missed the final three months of the 2021 season due to injury, provides a tremendous boost defensively and offensively (has hit .300-plus and slugged .500-plus all three previous seasons with Louisiana). Freshman Maddie Hayden, the younger sister of four-time All-Sun Belt and All-Central Region performer Haley Hayden, has used her speed and recent hot streak – hit .619 with three doubles, two triples and five stolen bases from Feb. 13-27 – at the plate to emerge as Louisiana's patrolman in left field. Senior Jenna Kean is the team's primary speed option in the stolen base department and is the veteran of a rotation in right field that includes freshmen Kramer Eschete, Kayla Falterman and Samantha Graeter. In recent games the freshman trio has alternated starts, with Kean replacing them defensively following a pinch-running situation.
Â
Pitchers: The coaches expect a true "pitching staff" in the circle to be the norm throughout the season. Kandra Lamb, who pitched a three-hit shutout of LSU in her final start of the 2021 season, is ready to take her turn as the leader. Kentucky-transfer Meghan Schorman and freshman Sam Landry are expected to round out the rotation of "starters" with Lamb. Schorman was off to a 7-1 start with a 1.30 ERA before the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, while Landry was the No. 4-rated recruit by Extra Inning Softball and shined in last summer's Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) High School Senior All-American Game. Vanessa Foreman and Karly Heath should play a role in relief assignments to further deepen the staff approach.
Â
DIAMOND NOTES
- Louisiana was preseason ranked in all four major national polls: No. 19 in Softball America, No. 22 in D1Softball and No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll.
- Louisiana, the two-time defending Sun Belt regular-season and tournament champion, was selected as the favorite to win the 2022 Sun Belt Conference softball title in a vote of the league's 10 head coaches.
- Kandra Lamb, Raina O'Neal and Sophie Piskos were voted onto the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Softball Preseason All-Conference Team.
- Kandra Lamb represented Louisiana Softball on the Extra Inning Softball Elite 100 list and Sam Landry was named on of D1Softball's Top 75 Impact Freshman. The duo was ranked among D1Softball's Top 150 Players.
- With the exception of Sophie Piskos at catcher, Raina O'Neal returning in center field and Taylor Roman at first base, the Ragin' Cajuns are using a new starter at every other position.
- For Gerry Glasco, his fifth season in Louisiana has a different look and feel: the team largely consists of players he recruited and went from being one of the oldest in the nation to one of the youngest. The Ragin' Cajuns went from a roster in 2021 that was predominantly sixth-year and fifth-year players to a group in 2022 that includes eight freshmen and 12 total newcomers.
- Louisiana is in a transition year in the pitching circle following the departure of former All-American and two-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year Summer Ellyson. After working alongside Ellyson last season to lead the Ragin' Cajuns to repeat champions in the Sun Belt, Kandra Lamb takes her turn as the pitching staff's leader.
- The 2022 season has brought the much-anticipated debut for Louisiana's 2021 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 1 by Extra Inning Softball and includes the No. 4-rated recruit in pitcher Sam Landry and the No. 15-ranked prospect in Louisiana native Maddie Hayden.
ABOUT LOUISIANA
During the 2021 season, the Ragin' Cajuns reached the 40-win mark for the 22nd consecutive completed season, closing out the regular season winning 25 of the final 29 games, and advanced to Championship Sunday of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. Louisiana repeated as Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament champions highlighted by an 11-1 record, regular season and tournament combined, against the league's other three NCAA Tournament participants (Texas State, Troy and South Alabama).
Â
Moving forward into the 2022 season, Louisiana is armed with the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class of the 2021 recruits by Extra Inning Softball including the No. 4-rated recruit in pitcher Sam Landry and No. 15-rated recruit in outfielder Maddie Hayden, has first team All-Sun Belt performer Kandra Lamb back in the circle seeking to pick up where Summer Ellyson left off, and welcomes back Raina O'Neal and Taylor Roman and their power bats back to the lineup
Â
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB) and Instagram (@Louisiana.SB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Softball.
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
-- RaginCajuns.com --
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/IF
/ Softball
1B/OF
/ Softball
P
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