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Cajuns Seek to Preserve Sun Belt Lead While in Troy

Louisiana takes in fourth straight series with a team in Top 5 of Sun Belt
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No. 25 Louisiana (34-12, 14-1 Sun Belt) at Troy (29-13-1, 10-4-1 Sun Belt)
Dates: Friday-Sunday, April 21-23, 2023
Location: Troy, Ala.
Stadium: Troy Softball Complex
Series Schedule:
Fri., April 21 – 6:00 p.m. (CDT)
Sat., April 22 – 2:00 p.m. (CDT)
Sun., April 23 – 12:00 p.m. (CDT)

MEDIA INFORMATION
Season Stats (PDF): Louisiana [ragincajuns.com] | Troy [troytrojans.com]
Rosters: Louisiana [ragincajuns.com] | Troy [troytrojans.com]
Schedule/Results: Louisiana [ragincajuns.com] | Troy [troytrojans.com]
Television: ESPN+ | Talent: Jonathan Sellers, PxP; Blake Gibson, 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: 25 | SBA: -- | D1S: -- | RPI: 10
Head Coach: Gerry Glasco (Illinois, '80)
Record at Louisiana: 239-65 (6th season)
Career Record: Same
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .304 / .503 / .378
Team ERA: 2.19

TROY Trojans
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: -- | RPI: 60
Head Coach: Eric Newell
Record at Troy: 29-13-1 (1st season)
Career Record: 585-222-1 (17th season)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .278 / .440 / .373
Team ERA: 2.64

LEADING OFF
>> The No. 25-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball team wraps up a four-week stretch of Sun Belt Conference series against other contenders that will have implications on the title race, traveling to Troy, Alabama for a three-game Sun Belt series with the Troy Trojans from Friday-Sunday, April 21-23.

>> The challenging stretch began with sweeps of James Madison, South Alabama and Texas State the past three weekends which vaulted the Ragin' Cajuns into first place in the Sun Belt standings.

>> Louisiana seeks to extend its Sun Belt Conference win streak which stands at nine straight games - the program's longest since winning 13 straight in 2021.

>> The Ragin' Cajuns seek to protect their lead in the SBC standings, entering the weekend with a two-game lead over second-place Marshall and three wins clear of everyone in the league.

>> Louisiana carries a streak of 78 consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won into the Troy series – the nation's longest active streak of consecutive conference series won, which dates back to March 2013.

>> The trip to Troy marks the first of back-to-back weekends on the road for Louisiana to close the month of April. The April-ending road swing concludes from Friday-Sunday, April 28-30 in Conway, South Carolina at Coastal Carolina.

>> Louisiana has been playing its best softball for the past month, having won 21 of its past 25 games since March 8.

>> April has been good to the Cajuns: the offense batting .308 with 40 extra base hits (17 doubles, 2 triples, 21 home runs) and the pitching staff sporting a 1.31 ERA yielding just 15 earned runs and 47 hits over 80 innings while holding foes to a .165 average.

>> Louisiana's bats have heated up in Sun Belt play to the tune of a .319 average and 44 extra base hits (20 doubles, 4 triples, 20 home runs) over 15 games. Leading the charge is Laney Credeur (.455, 4 HR, 10 RBI) and Karly Heath (.441, 4 HR, 7 RBI).

>> Success has followed the Ragin' Cajuns on the road, the squad having picked up 18 wins (out of 34 total) away from Lamson Park (10 true road wins, eight neutral site wins).

A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Series Record: Louisiana leads, 46-6
Sun Belt Regular Season Games: Louisiana leads, 40-6
Last Meeting: 5/12/22 // LA 9, TROY 1 (5) (Mobile, Ala.)
In Troy: Louisiana leads, 18-4
Last Time in Troy: 4/12/21 // LA 10, TROY 2 (6)
Streak: Louisiana, +10

>> 17th Sun Belt series; Louisiana claimed the series win each of previous 16 occurrences.
>> Since 2012, the Ragin' Cajuns have won 27 of the last 29 meetings in the series.
>> Louisiana carries a series-best, 10-game winning streak into this weekend's set at the Troy Softball Complex (dates back to 2019 season).
>> In the last visit to Troy, during the 2021 season, the Cajuns overtook to the Trojans in the SBC standings with a three-game sweep.
>> The 2018 series at the Troy Softball Complex played a key part in Louisiana's 78 consecutive series won streak continuing: the Ragin' Cajuns survived an 11-inning marathon in the series opener and rallied from a five-run deficit in Game 2 of the series-opening doubleheader.
>> Louisiana holds an 18-4 edge in meetings at the Troy Softball Complex, having won 12 of the last 13 matchups since March 2012.
>> Programs first met in doubleheader at Lamson Park in April 1997, but not again until Troy joined Sun Belt Conference (2006).

NUMBERS TO KNEAUX
0.89: ERA posted by Sam Landry over her last eight appearances (five starts) since April 1 (span of 31-1/3 innings).
1: Mihyia Davis posted the first home run of her collegiate career on Tuesday, April 18 vs. Southeastern, breaking a scoreless tie in the sixth inning.
2: Louisiana's pitching staff has lowered its ERA nearly two full points since the Clearwater Invitational (from 4.13 to 2.19).
2: As of April 18, Mihyia Davis ranked No. 2 nationally in stolen bases with 38 swipes.
5: The Ragin' Cajuns offense has produced at least five base hits in all but three of 46 games this season.
6: Louisiana is six wins shy of the program's 24th consecutive 40-win season.
6: Six different Ragin' Cajuns have totaled 20-plus RBI led by the trio of Lauren Allred, Alexa Langeliers and Karly Heath who have reached 30 RBI.
7: Outfield assists recorded by Mihyia Davis after denying Texas State's JJ Smith a double last Sunday.
11: There are 11 different players who have posted at least one home run for the Ragin' Cajuns.
11: Team-leading home run total for Karly Heath, two shy of her career-high total (13 in 2022).
17: Active streak of consecutive innings pitched without an earned run allowed by Meghan Schorman (started with three scoreless innings at Texas A&M).
17: Number of non-conference games played against Power 5 competition (six matchups at the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational).
20: Number of home runs the Cajuns have hit in the month of April (12 games).
20-11: Louisiana's record vs. Top 100 RPI teams this spring.
22: Mihyia Davis' active reached base streak of 22 games is the longest posted by a Ragin' Cajun this season and longest since Sophie Piskos' 23-game streak in 2022.
22: Number of times (in 46 games) that the Ragin' Cajuns have scored in the first inning.
29: Number of RBI generated since March 1 by freshman Lauren Allred.
29: Cajuns pitching has held the opposition to two runs or less in 29 out of 45 games.
35: Number of times the Ragin' Cajuns have scored the game's first run (31-4 record).
63: Combined RBI generated in Sun Belt play by the grouping of Lauren Allred, Laney Credeur, Stormy Kotzelnick, Alexa Langeliers and Sophie Piskos.
78: Consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won, a streak that dates back to March 2013, following the sweep of Texas State.
124: Season strikeout total posted by Meghan Schorman marking a second straight season surpassing 100.
1,829: Louisiana's number of all-time program victories (1981-present) which ranks No. 5 in NCAA D1 Softball history.
3,676: Days that will have passed since Louisiana's streak of consecutive Sun Belt series won (now 78 straight) began once the Troy series begins.

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'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 (20), Meghan Schorman (17) and Kandra Lamb (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).

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana returns to the road and closes out the month of April in Conway, South Carolina from Friday-Sunday, April 28-30 with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Coastal Carolina at St. John Stadium.

The matchup with the Chanticleers marks the final road games in conference play this spring. Start times are set for 5:00 p.m. (CDT) on Friday, 1:00 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday and 11:00 a.m. (CDT) on Sunday.

All games in the series with Coastal are being televised on ESPN+. Radio coverage is available on 103.3 FM The Goat and the Varsity Network and live stats can be accessed through CajunStats.com.

FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNSFollow the Ragin' Cajuns on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB [facebook.com]), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB [twitter.com]) and Instagram (@Louisiana.SB [instagram.com]) 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 [apps.apple.com] for iOS/Apple platforms and here [play.google.com] for Android platforms.

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