University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
WKU
Cajuns Open Conference Play Against WKU at Lamson Park
3/8/2013 1:56:00 PM | Softball
PDF Notes
WHAT'S ON TAP? The 15-7 Cajuns will return home after 13 road games in their last 14 games and take on Western Kentucky for the start of Sun Belt Conference play. The Cajuns went 21-3 in conference play last season and won the SBC regular season crown.
CAJUN UPDATE: Louisiana dropped both games in a doubleheader against Texas on Wednesday by scores of 9-4 and 7-1. The Cajuns took an early lead in game one by a two-run home run by Matte Haack, but that was quickly erased by a three-run first inning for the Longhorns. It would be all Texas from then on, going on to sweep the doubleheader.
THE LADY TOPPERS: The Lady Toppers (9-6) are coming off a doubleheader split with Bowling Green State on Wednesday in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Toppers were in Hawaii for the Bank of Hawaii Invitational over this past weekend and posted a 3-2 record with two wins over Campbell, a win over Memphis and two losses to Hawaii. They are led offensively by Katrina Metoyer and Preslie Cruce. Both are batting over .400 with a .419 and .415 average, respectively.
LET'S GET IT STARTED: The Cajuns have scored in the first inning in 12 of their 22 games this season, and are 9-3 in those games. The Cajuns have scored first in 17 of 22 games and hold a record of 13-4 when scoring first.
CHERRY BOMBS: Senior center fielder Brianna Cherry has anchored the Cajuns offense through the first 22 games this season. Cherry is batting .391 with 24 RBI, and a team high 25 runs and seven home runs. Her seven home runs tie her career-high that she set last season.
HOME RUNS...HOME RUNS EVERYWHERE: With 29 home runs in the first 22 games, the Cajuns lead the Sun Belt Conference in home runs by a margin of 14 (South Alabama, 15). Individually, Louisiana holds down the top three spots with Cherry at seven, and both Landry and Draheim both at six. If you combine the three, they have more home runs than all the teams in the league.
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 141 putouts, and has started every game at catcher. She is batting .413 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 8-4 record with a 2.32 ERA (23 er, 69.1 ip). Wallace has 95 strikeouts and just 27 walks while allowing 51 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-68 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 (89-for-235), with 81 runs scored, 88 RBI and 19 home runs with a slugging percentage of .690. Through 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.
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.
HAVE MERCY: The Cajuns have won nine games this season by way of the NCAA 8-run mercy rule, outscoring opponents 153-71.
CLEARING THE BENCH: 29 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.
