University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Wednesday, March 6
Austin, Texas
5:00 PM
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
at
Texas
Cajuns Journey to Austin for Rematch with Longhorns
3/5/2013 4:55:00 PM | Softball
Date: March 6, 2013
Location: Austin, Texas
Site: Red and Charline McCombs Field
Radio: ESPN 1420-AM
Live Stats: www.ragincajuns.com
TV: ESPN Longhorns Network
Time: 5:00 P.M. Doubleheader
Game Notes
Stats
WHAT'S ON TAP? The 15-5 Ragin' Cajuns travel to Austin for a rematch of last Saturday's loss to the 19-3 Longhorns for a doubleheader starting at 5 P.M. at Red and Charline McCombs Field.
CAJUN UPDATE: Louisiana is coming off a 2-3 weekend in Orlando at the Diamond Nine Citrus Classic. The Cajuns opened the event by defeating Pittsburgh 8-0 in six-innings, before dropping games to #9 Texas A&M and #5 Texas. They rebounded from those two losses with a 16-0, five-inning, combined no hitter over the College of Charleston and then fell to Illinois State 4-3 to cap off the tournament.
THE LONGHORNS: The #10 Longhorns are 19-3 after going 3-2 at the Citrus Classic. They are led by two All-Americans: pitcher Blair Luna, who defeated the Cajuns on Saturday and infielder Taylor Hoagland. Luna is 9-0 with a 0.74 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 57.0 innings pitched. Hoagland leads the team with a .446 batting average, 20 RBI, 22 runs scored and four home runs. Texas holds the all-time series lead of 6-2.
CHERRY ON TOP: Senior center fielder Brianna Cherry is batting a team-high .424 (25-for-59) with seven home runs and 25 runs scored, both also team-highs. She has amassed 53 total bases in 59 at-bats, for a slugging percentage of .898. Her seven home runs has tied her career-high which she set last season.
HOME RUNS...HOME RUNS EVERYWHERE: With 26 home runs in 20 games, Louisiana leads the Sun Belt in home runs by a margin of 12. In fact, if you only counted Brianna Cherry, Shellie Landry and Sarah Draheim's 19 home runs, the Cajuns would still lead the conference. (South Alabama has 14)
MAKING TED WILLIAMS PROUD: Louisiana holds down the top three batting average spots in the Sun Belt with Brianna Cherry, .424, Sarah Draheim, .414, and Shellie Landry, .400 all above the .400 mark a long with Caitlin Ortiz of Troy, .400. The Cajuns have had just four players bat over .400 in the past four years, Vallie Gaspard (2010, .422), Christi Orgeron (2011, .414), Katie Smith (.447, 2012) and Natalie Fernandez (.436).
DOMINATING THE DISH: Senior catcher Sarah Draheim has been a huge presence both behind and at the plate for the Cajuns this season. She leads the team with 127 putouts, and has started every game at catcher. She is batting .414 on the season with six home runs and 24 RBI. Draheim batted .250 in her first three seasons.
NO WAITING FOR WALLACE: Sophomore pitcher Jordan Wallace is quickly building on what was a record breaking freshman campaign, racking up five wins in her first five starts of the season. She holds a 8-3 record with a 1.88 ERA (17 er, 63.1 ip). Wallace has 87 strikeouts and just 22 walks while allowing 44 hits. She was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week on February 18.
SINGLING OUT FERNANDEZ: Third baseman Natalie Fernandez led the Ragin' Cajuns squad with 75 hits and a .436 average last season. All of the 75 hits were singles. Thus far in 2013 she has gone 22-for-60 with 22 singles. In her career, Fernandez has 132 hits, including 131 singles and one double. Her only extra base hit came on February 12, 2011 as her last 129 hits have been singles.
NO SENIOR SLIDE: The five seniors, Brianna Cherry, Sarah Draheim, Matte Haack, Nerissa Myers and Megan Waterman combine for a .381 batting average (86-for-226), with 80 runs scored, 86 RBI and 18 home runs with a slugging percentage of .707. In the first seven games, all five of the seniors had at least one home run.
FRESHMAN FIREPOWER: Outfielder Shellie Landry hit her first career grand slam against Southern on Feb. 26, and has now homered in back-to-back games this season twice. Her 31 RBI not only lead the team, but the entire Sun Belt Conference and she is second on the team with six home runs.
WATERMAN OFF THE WALL: In just her fourth career at-bat, senior Megan Waterman doubled off the left field wall, missing a home run by mere feet on Friday, February 15. On Saturday, February 16th she would get another pinch hitting opportunity, this time clearing the wall for her first career home run. She is 2-for-2 in pinch hitting opportunities with a slugging percentage of 3.000 in 2013.
HOW DO THEY RANK? Louisiana is ranked 15th in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and 18th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball polls released on March 5. The Cajuns started the season ranked 11th, and were the unanimous selection to win the Sun Belt. The highest they have been ranked this season was the preseason ranking of 11th.
DEFENDING CHAMPS: Louisiana will attempt to defend their throne at the top of the Sun Belt Conference, a spot they have held in 11 of the past 12 seasons, including five straight. They will also attempt to extend a streak of 14 straight NCAA Regional tournament berths.
ALL SUN BELT: Six Cajuns were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team, the most of any team in the conference. Nerissa Myers, Brianna Cherry, Matte Haack and Sarah Draheim were among the seniors on the team, along with junior Natalie Fernandez and sophomore pitcher Jordan Wallace. Myers and Wallace were both named preseason Player and Pitcher of the year, respectively.
ATTENDANCE AUTHORITIES: Lamson Park has held the highest attendance in the Sun Belt Conference for the past 13 seasons, and set school records last season with an average attendance of 1,287, for 29,171 all season. Lamson Park has held 4066 fans this season after five games, averaging 813 a game.
FAMILY AFFAIR: The Cajuns have two family links on the team, seniors Nerissa Myers and Brianna Cherry are cousins, and senior Matte Haack has a younger brother, Brooks, who is a freshman on the Ragin' Cajuns football team.
SOLID COMPETITION: The Cajuns schedule features nine teams that were either ranked in the top 25 or received votes in NCAA polls, including ESPN.com number one, Oklahoma (April 3rd).
HAVE MERCY: The Cajuns have won nine games this season by way of the NCAA 8-run mercy rule, outscoring opponents 148-55. They have seen the seventh inning just three times, and won four games in the fifth inning.
CLEARING THE BENCH: 28 different players have seen time at the plate or on the base paths this season for the Cajuns. In all of 2012, just 12 players saw action in the field, not including pitchers.
CHERRY NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brianna Cherry was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week of Feb. 25 after a powerful weekend at the plate in the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The honor is the first of her career, and second this season for the Cajuns. Jordan Wallace won Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 18. Cherry went 7-for-19 at the plate with eight RBI with seven runs scored and four home runs, helping the Cajuns win the NFCA Leadoff Classic. She drove in runs in every game, and scored in every game but one.
Location: Austin, Texas
Site: Red and Charline McCombs Field
Radio: ESPN 1420-AM
Live Stats: www.ragincajuns.com
TV: ESPN Longhorns Network
Time: 5:00 P.M. Doubleheader
Game Notes
Stats
WHAT'S ON TAP? The 15-5 Ragin' Cajuns travel to Austin for a rematch of last Saturday's loss to the 19-3 Longhorns for a doubleheader starting at 5 P.M. at Red and Charline McCombs Field.
CAJUN UPDATE: Louisiana is coming off a 2-3 weekend in Orlando at the Diamond Nine Citrus Classic. The Cajuns opened the event by defeating Pittsburgh 8-0 in six-innings, before dropping games to #9 Texas A&M and #5 Texas. They rebounded from those two losses with a 16-0, five-inning, combined no hitter over the College of Charleston and then fell to Illinois State 4-3 to cap off the tournament.
THE LONGHORNS: The #10 Longhorns are 19-3 after going 3-2 at the Citrus Classic. They are led by two All-Americans: pitcher Blair Luna, who defeated the Cajuns on Saturday and infielder Taylor Hoagland. Luna is 9-0 with a 0.74 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 57.0 innings pitched. Hoagland leads the team with a .446 batting average, 20 RBI, 22 runs scored and four home runs. Texas holds the all-time series lead of 6-2.
CHERRY ON TOP: Senior center fielder Brianna Cherry is batting a team-high .424 (25-for-59) with seven home runs and 25 runs scored, both also team-highs. She has amassed 53 total bases in 59 at-bats, for a slugging percentage of .898. Her seven home runs has tied her career-high which she set last season.
HOME RUNS...HOME RUNS EVERYWHERE: With 26 home runs in 20 games, Louisiana leads the Sun Belt in home runs by a margin of 12. In fact, if you only counted Brianna Cherry, Shellie Landry and Sarah Draheim's 19 home runs, the Cajuns would still lead the conference. (South Alabama has 14)
MAKING TED WILLIAMS PROUD: Louisiana holds down the top three batting average spots in the Sun Belt with Brianna Cherry, .424, Sarah Draheim, .414, and Shellie Landry, .400 all above the .400 mark a long with Caitlin Ortiz of Troy, .400. The Cajuns have had just four players bat over .400 in the past four years, Vallie Gaspard (2010, .422), Christi Orgeron (2011, .414), Katie Smith (.447, 2012) and Natalie Fernandez (.436).
DOMINATING THE DISH: Senior catcher Sarah Draheim has been a huge presence both behind and at the plate for the Cajuns this season. She leads the team with 127 putouts, and has started every game at catcher. She is batting .414 on the season with six home runs and 24 RBI. Draheim batted .250 in her first three seasons.
NO WAITING FOR WALLACE: Sophomore pitcher Jordan Wallace is quickly building on what was a record breaking freshman campaign, racking up five wins in her first five starts of the season. She holds a 8-3 record with a 1.88 ERA (17 er, 63.1 ip). Wallace has 87 strikeouts and just 22 walks while allowing 44 hits. She was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week on February 18.
SINGLING OUT FERNANDEZ: Third baseman Natalie Fernandez led the Ragin' Cajuns squad with 75 hits and a .436 average last season. All of the 75 hits were singles. Thus far in 2013 she has gone 22-for-60 with 22 singles. In her career, Fernandez has 132 hits, including 131 singles and one double. Her only extra base hit came on February 12, 2011 as her last 129 hits have been singles.
NO SENIOR SLIDE: The five seniors, Brianna Cherry, Sarah Draheim, Matte Haack, Nerissa Myers and Megan Waterman combine for a .381 batting average (86-for-226), with 80 runs scored, 86 RBI and 18 home runs with a slugging percentage of .707. In the first seven games, all five of the seniors had at least one home run.
FRESHMAN FIREPOWER: Outfielder Shellie Landry hit her first career grand slam against Southern on Feb. 26, and has now homered in back-to-back games this season twice. Her 31 RBI not only lead the team, but the entire Sun Belt Conference and she is second on the team with six home runs.
WATERMAN OFF THE WALL: In just her fourth career at-bat, senior Megan Waterman doubled off the left field wall, missing a home run by mere feet on Friday, February 15. On Saturday, February 16th she would get another pinch hitting opportunity, this time clearing the wall for her first career home run. She is 2-for-2 in pinch hitting opportunities with a slugging percentage of 3.000 in 2013.
HOW DO THEY RANK? Louisiana is ranked 15th in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and 18th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball polls released on March 5. The Cajuns started the season ranked 11th, and were the unanimous selection to win the Sun Belt. The highest they have been ranked this season was the preseason ranking of 11th.
DEFENDING CHAMPS: Louisiana will attempt to defend their throne at the top of the Sun Belt Conference, a spot they have held in 11 of the past 12 seasons, including five straight. They will also attempt to extend a streak of 14 straight NCAA Regional tournament berths.
ALL SUN BELT: Six Cajuns were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team, the most of any team in the conference. Nerissa Myers, Brianna Cherry, Matte Haack and Sarah Draheim were among the seniors on the team, along with junior Natalie Fernandez and sophomore pitcher Jordan Wallace. Myers and Wallace were both named preseason Player and Pitcher of the year, respectively.
ATTENDANCE AUTHORITIES: Lamson Park has held the highest attendance in the Sun Belt Conference for the past 13 seasons, and set school records last season with an average attendance of 1,287, for 29,171 all season. Lamson Park has held 4066 fans this season after five games, averaging 813 a game.
FAMILY AFFAIR: The Cajuns have two family links on the team, seniors Nerissa Myers and Brianna Cherry are cousins, and senior Matte Haack has a younger brother, Brooks, who is a freshman on the Ragin' Cajuns football team.
SOLID COMPETITION: The Cajuns schedule features nine teams that were either ranked in the top 25 or received votes in NCAA polls, including ESPN.com number one, Oklahoma (April 3rd).
HAVE MERCY: The Cajuns have won nine games this season by way of the NCAA 8-run mercy rule, outscoring opponents 148-55. They have seen the seventh inning just three times, and won four games in the fifth inning.
CLEARING THE BENCH: 28 different players have seen time at the plate or on the base paths this season for the Cajuns. In all of 2012, just 12 players saw action in the field, not including pitchers.
CHERRY NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brianna Cherry was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week of Feb. 25 after a powerful weekend at the plate in the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The honor is the first of her career, and second this season for the Cajuns. Jordan Wallace won Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 18. Cherry went 7-for-19 at the plate with eight RBI with seven runs scored and four home runs, helping the Cajuns win the NFCA Leadoff Classic. She drove in runs in every game, and scored in every game but one.
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