Louisiana (27-10, 8-1 Sun Belt) vs. South Alabama (25-10, 8-1 Sun Belt)
Dates: Saturday-Sunday, April 8-9, 2023
Location: Lafayette, La.
Stadium: Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park (2,790)
Series Schedule:
Sat., April 8 (DH) – 2:00 p.m. (CDT)
Sun., April 9 – 2:30 p.m. (CDT)
MEDIA INFORMATION
Season Stats (PDF): Louisiana [ragincajuns.com] | South Alabama [usajaguars.com]
Rosters: Louisiana [ragincajuns.com] | South Alabama [usajaguars.com]
Schedule/Results: Louisiana [ragincajuns.com] | South Alabama [usajaguars.com]
Television: ESPN+ | Talent: Dan McDonald, PxP; Eric Mouton, analyst
Radio: 103.3 FM The Goat and Varsity Network | Talent: Cody Junot, PxP; Bobby Neveaux, analyst
Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Live Video: Game 1 [espn.com] | Game 2 [espn.com] | Game 3 [espn.com]
Live Audio: Game 1 [thevarsitynetwork.com] | Game 2 [thevarsitynetwork.com] | Game 3 [thevarsitynetwork.com]
Live Stats: Game 1 [statb.us] | Game 2 [statb.us] | Game 3 [statb.us]
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsSB [twitter.com]
TEAM INFORMATION
LOUISIANA Ragin' Cajuns
NFCA: RV | USA: RV | SBA: -- | D1S: -- | RPI: 10
Head Coach: [ragincajuns.com]Gerry Glasco [ragincajuns.com] (Illinois, '80)
Record at Louisiana: 232-63 (6th season)
Career Record: Same
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .305 / .489 / .381
Team ERA: 2.41
SOUTH ALABAMA Jaguars
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: -- | RPI: 51
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)
Record at USA: 518-341-1 (17th season)
Career Record: 674-374-2 (20th season)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .278 / .392 / .344
Team ERA: 1.61
LEADING OFF
>> Locked in a tie for second place in the Sun Belt standings, Louisiana and South Alabama meet at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park from Saturday-Sunday, April 8-9 to see who remains near the top of the ledger.
>> The teams play a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday (April 8) and conclude play on Sunday (April 9) with a 2:30 p.m. single game. Originally a Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8 series, the schedule was revised due to weather concerns.
>> The USA series continues the challenging four-week stretch for Louisiana in Sun Belt play - that likely will have regular season title implications - which began last weekend at James Madison. Series with Texas State and Troy await in succession following this weekend.
>> Both the Cajuns and Jaguars are coming off of Sun Belt series sweeps: Louisiana on the road at James Madison and South Alabama at home vs. ULM. Both teams bring a four-game win streak into the series.
>> Louisiana carries a streak of 76 consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won into the USA series – the nation's longest active streak of consecutive conference series won, which dates back to March 2013.
>> Of note to lengthy SBC series won streak for Louisiana is the fact that the last team to claim a series from the Ragin' Cajuns was South Alabama back on March 16-17, 2013 in Mobile.
>> The Cajuns enter the series coming off an impressive team win at McNeese on Tuesday (April 4), claiming a 7-0 victory on a one-hit shutout that moved the team a season-high 17 games above .500.
>> In traditional Cajuns-Jaguars flair, the matchup pits the heavy hitting Louisiana lineup (.305, 39 HR) against South Alabama's stingy pitching staff (1.61 ERA, 242 K).
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Series Record: Louisiana leads, 42-11
Sun Belt Regular Season Games: Louisiana leads, 36-7
Last Meeting: 4/15/22 // LA 2, USA 1 (Mobile, Ala.)
At Lamson Park: Louisiana leads, 21-2
Last Time at Lamson Park: 3/28/21 // LA 6, USA 0
Streak: Louisiana, +20
>> Louisiana carries a series-best, 20-game win streak into this weekend's meeting at Lamson Park.
>> The Ragin' Cajuns have won every matchup dating back to 2016. Last loss to USA was 2015 Sun Belt Tournament championship game.
>> Cajuns and Jags are meeting on Easter Weekend for the second straight season, and the third time since 2018.
>> In the last series held at Lamson Park back in March 2021, Louisiana became the first team to shutout South Alabama in an entire Sun Belt Conference series since April 2017 (Texas State). Summer Ellyson (12.1 IP) and Kandra Lamb [ragincajuns.com] (8.2 IP) combined to shutout the Jaguars over a span of 21 innings.
>> Over the last two series at Lamson Park (2018, 2021), there were four (4) one-run outcomes.
>> Louisiana won 12 of the previous 15 Sun Belt series (split in 2007, USA won in 2009 and 2013).
>> The Cajuns are 21-2 vs. USA at Lamson Park and have won the last nine matchups on their home field since falling to the Jags in the 2014 SBC Tournament winner's bracket final.
>> Two programs met for SBC Tournament championship in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2021.
>> Series began when South Alabama launched its program in 2007 and joined the Sun Belt.
THIS 'N THAT
>> Louisiana is in its 23rd season of softball within the Sun Belt Conference. The three-time defending regular season champion Ragin' Cajuns are in search of the program's 19th overall regular season SBC title.
>> In the NCAA's latest official release of the RPI (Wednesday, April 5), the Ragin' Cajuns were ranked No. 10 - the highest ranking among Sun Belt programs.
>> The Ragin' Cajuns were weathered and tested in the early portion of non-conference action, facing eight ranked teams. Louisiana's non-conference strength of schedule is ranked No. 2.
>> In pre-conference tournament play, Louisiana claimed three wins over ranked teams, six wins over Power 5 foes and nine wins over Top 100 RPI teams.
>> To date, Louisiana has played the second (2nd) toughest schedule in D1 Softball based upon games already played. The combined record of opponents through 37 games is 783-408-5 (.657).
>> The Ragin' Cajuns handed No. 12 LSU (currently 31-6, 4-5 SEC) its only non-conference loss of the season back on Feb. 25 at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge (won 5-4) and handed No. 13 Florida its first home loss of the 2023 season.
>> Of the 10 losses for Louisiana so far in the 2023 campaign, only one (App State) came against a non-Power 5 program.
>> Louisiana is set to have staying power in the national landscape in coming years, as the lineup typically features a combination of at least six to eight freshmen and sophomores. The last two recruiting classes were ranked Top 15 by Extra Inning Softball.
>> Louisiana has picked up 18 wins (out of 27 total) away from Lamson Park (nine true road wins, eight neutral site wins). The Cajuns are a perfect 6-0 on the road in Sun Belt play.
>> In the first-ever Sun Belt series with James Madison, Louisiana became the first team to sweep a three-game conference series from James Madison in Harrisonburg since April 2010 (Hofstra in the Colonial Athletic Association).
LATEST TRENDS
>> Karly Heath [ragincajuns.com] returned to the lineup following a minor injury on Tuesday at McNeese and promptly launched two (2) home runs and collected three RBI. She increased her season home run total to a team-best nine (9) and reclaimed the team lead in RBI running her season total up to 27.
>> For the season, Karly Heath [ragincajuns.com] is the Ragin' Cajuns leader in home runs (9), extra base hits (15), RBI (27), and runs scored (31) and is a close second in hits (32). The senior utility player is batting .364, slugging .750 and is 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 26 innings in the circle.
>> Freshman Lauren Allred [ragincajuns.com] has become an emerging impact player over the past month. Since March 1, Allred is batting .408 (20-of-49) with three doubles, two triples, four home runs and 23 RBI.
>> In the three weeks since Sun Belt play began (back on March 18), Sophie Piskos [ragincajuns.com] is tied for the team lead with 12 RBI (with Lauren Allred [ragincajuns.com]) and is batting .462 (12-of-26) in conference play.
>> Kandra Lamb [ragincajuns.com] is flourishing in her role as a closer out of the bullpen. Last weekend at James Madison, Lamb delivered three spotless relief appearances tossing 6-2/3 innings of scoreless softball while striking out 11 and yielding just two hits.
>> Meghan Schorman [ragincajuns.com] has recorded five-plus strikeouts in each of her last four seven-inning outings including a season-high 12 strikeouts last Friday at JMU. Schorman is five strikeouts shy of reaching 100 for the second straight season.
>> Sam Landry [ragincajuns.com], who tossed four innings of one-hit shutout softball on Tuesday at McNeese, has yielded just four hits and issued only one walk over the nine innings pitched in her last two starts.
>> Since the App State series (March 24-25), the Cajuns pitching staff has limited foes to 13 runs, 29 hits, struck out 60 and issued only 12 walks over 48 innings of work.
>> Louisiana used the same lineup all three games at James Madison and the result was six players recording at least four hits in the series leading Louisiana to a commanding 31-14 edge over JMU.
>> Stormy Kotzelnick [ragincajuns.com] enters the USA series with a season-highfour-game hitting streak that has boosted her average 22 points up to .289. She began the streak with back-to-back multiple-hit and multiple-RBI efforts to start the JMU series, tallying four hits and four RBI as Louisiana clinched the series.
>> The bat of Alexa Langeliers [ragincajuns.com] is heating up as she has turned in multiple-hit games in three of the last four outings, batting 6-of-11 with six (6) RBI. Langeliers homered in all three of the multi-hit games.
>> Despite missing 10 games with a hand injury following Opening Day, freshman Mihyia Davis [ragincajuns.com] has already swiped 30 stolen bases (in 33 attempts) with her elite speed. Davis is one of collegiate softball's most electrifying center fielders as evidenced by her diving catch into the wall on Feb. 25 at LSU.
>> A year ago, Louisiana's pitching staff was one of only three units in Division I Softball to amass 500-plus strikeouts (504). Early on in April the group is more than halfway to the mark, having tallied 278 strikeouts with five weeks still remaining in the regular season.
DIAMOND NOTES
>> Louisiana was preseason ranked in three major national polls: No. 20 in D1Softball, No. 22 in Softball America and No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll. The Ragin' Cajuns were receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA poll, third in line from No. 25.
>> Louisiana, the three-time defending regular season and tournament champions, was the unanimous selection as the favorite to win the 2023 Sun Belt Conference title in a vote of the league's 12 head coaches. The Ragin' Cajuns have a history of dominating the Sun Belt, having won 18 regular season titles and 17 conference tournament titles since the inception of the league in 2000.
>> Louisiana (47-13, 23-4 Sun Belt in 2022) turned in the program's 23rd consecutive 40-win season and NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2022 season. The Ragin' Cajuns placed a conference-high nine players on the All-Sun Belt team, produced five NFCA All-Central Region performers, recorded a program-record .351 season batting average and generated the most home runs in Gerry Glasco [ragincajuns.com]'s tenure (82).
>> In the pitcher's circle, the Ragin' Cajuns returned all 47 victories posted in the 2022 season headlined by the trio of Sam Landry [ragincajuns.com] (20), Meghan Schorman [ragincajuns.com] (17) and Kandra Lamb [ragincajuns.com] (9) who combined for all but one of the triumphs.
>> A year ago, Louisiana's pitching staff ranked Top 25 nationally in ERA (2.17), shutouts (16), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.97) and was one of only three units in Division I Softball to amass 500-plus strikeouts (504).
NUMBERS TO KNEAUX
1: Louisiana's pitching staff has lowered its ERA more than one full point since the Clearwater Invitational (from 4.13 to 2.41).
2: Number of shutouts pitched vs. ranked teams by Meghan Schorman [ragincajuns.com] (no-hit UCF, three-hit blanking of Florida).
4: Louisiana has scored in the first inning in four consecutive games.
5: As of April 5, Mihyia Davis [ragincajuns.com] ranked No. 5 nationally in stolen bases with 30 swipes.
5: The Ragin' Cajuns offense has produced at least five base hits in all but two of 37 games this season.
10: There are 10 different players who have posted at least one home run for the Ragin' Cajuns.
17: Number of non-conference games scheduled against Power 5 competition (six matchups at the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational).
19: Number of times (in 37 games) that the Ragin' Cajuns have scored in the first inning.
23: Number of RBI generated since March 1 by freshman Lauren Allred [ragincajuns.com].
24: Combined RBI total generated - 12 apiece - by Lauren Allred [ragincajuns.com] and Sophie Piskos [ragincajuns.com] the first three weeks of Sun Belt play.
29: Number of times the Ragin' Cajuns have scored the game's first run (25-4 record).
76: Consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won, a streak that dates back to March 2013.
1,822: Louisiana's number of all-time program victories (1981-present) which ranks No. 5 in NCAA D1 Softball history.
3,662: Days that have passed since Louisiana's streak of consecutive Sun Belt series won (now 76 straight) began.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin' Cajuns embark on their annual Spring Break trip, traveling to the State of Texas for midweek games at Baylor and Texas A&M from Tuesday-Wednesday, April 11-12.
The first stop is in Waco on Tuesday (April 11) to meet Baylor, followed by a matchup with the Aggies in College Station on Wednesday (April 12). Both games are scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+ and SEC Network+, respectively.
The Spring Break games mark the start of a week-long stretch of chances for Top 50 RPI wins for the Ragin' Cajuns who return to Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park to meet Texas State in a Sun Belt Conference series from Friday-Sunday, April 14-16.
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