Softball Preview: at Southern Miss

Games 16-18: No. 5 Louisiana (14-1) at Southern Miss (12-8)
Saturday, Mar. 5 (DH) • 1 p.m. (CST) • Southern Miss • USM Softball Complex (1,000) • Hattiesburg, Miss.
Sunday, Mar. 6 • 1 p.m. (CST) • Southern Miss • USM Softball Complex (1,000) • Hattiesburg, Miss.

Game Notes (PDF): Louisiana
Radio: ESPN 1420-AM | Live Stats
Rosters: Louisiana | Southern Miss
Schedules: Louisiana | Southern Miss
2016 Stats: Louisiana | Southern Miss
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @ULRaginCajuns | @RaginCajunSB
Opponents' Twitter: @SouthernMissSB

THE COACHES
Louisiana: Michael Lotief (Louisiana, 1985)
Career Record: 652-160-1 (14th season) Record at Louisiana: Same

Southern Miss: Wendy Hogue (William Carey, 1998)
Career Record: 403-194 (12th season) Record at USM: 30-42 (2nd season)

CAJUNS TAKE WIN STREAK ON THE ROAD
No. 5 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball, which recently finished a 10-game homestand with an eight game win streak, travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a three-game series with Southern Miss set for Saturday-Sunday, March 5-6. The teams square off in a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, followed by a 1 p.m. single game on Sunday. The series marks the final non-conference weekend prior to the start of Sun Belt Conference play March 12-13 vs. South Alabama at Lamson Park.

PITCHING STAFF TAKES CHARGE
The Ragin' Cajuns pitchers not only tossed four shutouts in the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational, but threw three no-hitters. Kylee Jo Trahan recorded a pair of no-hitters, including a perfect game vs. Alcorn State, and Victoria Brown capped off the weekend with her first career no-hitter.

COLLECTIVE EFFORT
Victoria Brown, Macey Smith and Kylee Jo Trahan combined for 32 strikeouts and held opponents to three hits over 21 innings pitched during the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational.

CLIMBING HIGHER
Lexie Elkins homered three times during last week's play, increasing her career home run total to 67. The senior catcher passed Gabriele Bridges (66 HR from 2008-11) for sole possession of fourth place on the school's career chart and currently sits three homers away from a tie for third and five from holding second place. The school career Top 5 HR list includes: Danyele Gomez (83), Holly Tankersely (71), Christi Orgeron (70), Lexie Elkins (67) and Gabriele Brigdes (66).

RAGIN' CAJUNS SOFTBALL CAREER HOME RUNS CHART
1.    83    Danyele Gomez (2003-06)
2.    71    Holly Tankersley (2004, 2006-08)
3.    70    Christi Orgeron (2009-12)
4.    67    Lexie Elkins (2014-present)
5.    66    Gabriele Bridges (2008-11)

CLEANING UP
Kelsey Vincent has combined with Lexie Elkins for a solid 1-2 punch in run production. Last week, the Cajuns first baseman collected a hit in each of the team's six games, hitting .571, and posted a team-high 12 RBI (2.0 RBI/game). Vincent tallied nine RBI during the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational, the highest tally in the tournament. She recorded multiple RBI in four of the six games, the highest output being four in Friday's Rutgers contest which tied her career high.

TOP-TO-BOTTOM PRODCUTION
All nine of the starters in the Cajuns batting order have produced at least 11 base hits. While the top four in the lineup (Hayden, Landry, Elkins, Vincent) have combined for 71 RBI, the remaining four non-slap hitters (Craighton, Sanders, Corbello, Gremillion) have generated 42 RBI.

MAKING THEM EARN IT
Louisiana's pitching staff has hurled seven shutouts and allowed only 26 runs and 67 hits over 89 innings. Ragin' Cajuns pitchers have yielded only 15 walks over the 89 innings worked.

A TOUGH OUT
Ragin' Cajuns hitters have struck out only 44 times, and drawn 70 walks, in 469 plate appearances.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The No. 5-ranked Ragin' Cajuns return to Lamson Park next week for a series of four games that begins with a single game against Longwood at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9 and concludes with the Sun Belt Conference opening series against South Alabama Saturday-Sunday, March 12-13.

MIGHTY BATS
The four home runs vs. Central Arkansas in the Louisiana Classics finale marked the third time this season that Louisiana reached the tally in a contest (5 vs. UAB, 4 vs. La. Tech, 4 vs. UCA). The Ragin' Cajuns have belted 28 home runs in 15 contests for an average of 1.87 per game, which ranks second nationally. In 2015, UL produced a nation-best 2.15 home runs per game.

TOP 10 TRIUMPH
The Louisiana Classics at Lamson Park (Feb. 19-21) was highlighted by the Ragin' Cajuns claiming two of the three matchups with No. 5 Oregon. Alex Stewart pitched complete games in both of Louisiana's wins over the Ducks, Lexie Elkins homered twice off of All-American pitcher Cherdian Hawkins and Kara Gremillion (two-run double in Game 1) and Haley Hayden (three-run double in Game 3) provided key at bats in the three-game set.

LAMSON COMES ALIVE
Boosted by a new season ticket record (909 as of Mar. 3), the Ragin' Cajuns drew an average of 2,060 fans over the weekend during the Louisiana Classics. Friday's doubleheader vs. No. 5 Oregon drew 2,273 and Saturday's matchup had 2,315 in attendance. Since the current configuration of Lamson Park debuted in 2012, the Cajuns have ranked Top 20 nationally in attendance the past four seasons which includes Top 10 finishes the last two seasons (2014-15).

SWEEPSTAKES FOR ELKINS
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball senior catcher Lexie Elkins' season-opening display of power in Gulf Shores resulted in national notoriety – in addition to Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Week honors – as she was named Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division I National Player of the Week and USA Softball Collegiate National Player of the Week. Elkins finished 10-for-15 (.667) at the plate with five home runs and 14 RBI in Gulf Shores.

SIZZLING DEBUT
Louisiana fired off 32 base hits in producing 37 runs, and hit .582 as a team, in season-opening day victories over Ball State (22-4) and UAB (15-0). The squad totaled 18 extra base hits (10 doubles, one triple, seven home runs) with Lexie Elkins, Kelsey Vincent and DJ Sanders each homering twice.

MILESTONE MOMENT
The 8-0 (5 inn.) win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores marked the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball program's 1,500th all-time victory. The present all-time record, for the program which was launched in 1981, is 1,511-434-1 (.777).

SERIES HISTORY (Louisiana leads 42-3)
In Lafayette: Louisiana leads 26-0
In Hattiesburg, Miss.: Louisiana leads 13-1
Neutral: Louisiana leads 3-2
Current Streak: Louisiana won 16
Last Meeting: 4/10/13 at Lamson Park
(Louisiana 10, Southern Miss 0 - 5 inn.)

Series Notes
The weekend series marks the Ragin' Cajuns first visit to Hattiesburg since April 2008...Louisiana has won the last 16 meetings overall, a streak which began with a 5-1 victory on May 17, 2001 at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional...The all-time series spans two time frames: the first from March 1987-April 1992 and the second from April 1999-present which began when USM reinstated its softball program...Programs have met four previous times at the Southern Miss Softball Complex, which opened in 2002, with the Ragin' Cajuns holding a 4-0 edge.

Last Meeting (April 10, 2013 at Lamson Park)
Louisiana swept a doubleheader from Southern Miss at Lamson Park by an 18-2, 10-0 count, winning both games by the run rule in five innings...The Ragin' Cajuns hit five home runs, including two from freshman Shellie Landry, in a 10-run fourth inning that broke open the first game...Landry finished the opener 4-for-4 with a school-record tying three home runs...The Cajuns jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap, the key hit being a three-run home run by Matte Haack that opened the scoring...Victoria Brown and Kristin Martinez combined for the shutout of the Golden Eagles, limiting the visitors to three hits.

DIAMOND NOTES
#KsForKylee: Kylee Jo Trahan struck out a career-high 10 vs. Rutgers last Friday, then followed up with nine vs. Alcorn State on Saturday. She has posted at least eight strikeouts in four of her five starts.

#SteadyAlex: Alex Stewart began the season with 35 2/3 consecutive walk-free innings. She's yielded only two walks in 42 innings pitched through her first seven starts.

#GrowingUpFast: Freshman Kara Gremillion has displayed poise at the plate and the results have backed that up. Gremillion ranks second on the squad with five doubles (out of 12 hits total), one of which broke open a scoreless game vs. No. 5 Oregon on Feb. 19.

#CatchMeIfYouCan: Louisiana is 14-0 when scoring first. In those 14 wins, the Ragin' Cajuns have relinquished the lead only once (4th inning of Game 1 vs. Texas Tech).

#LoftyHeights: Louisiana rose to No. 5 in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball poll - the first time ranked in the Top 5 of the poll's history. The Cajuns held steady at No. 6 in the USA Today/NFCA ranking. For the third straight week the team was listed among the Top 10 of both national polls.

#EliteCompany: Dating back to the start of the 2015 season, Louisiana has been in the Top 10 of the NFCA rankings in 15 of the past 18 polls and Top 10 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll in 14 of the past 18 polls.

#DefenseBacksThemUp: The Ragin' Cajuns pitching staff doesn't have to pile up impressive strikeout numbers as a veteran defense plays behind them. Seven of the nine starters in the field have at least two years experience at their respective position. The defense has committed only 12 errors in 364 chances and had multiple errors just twice in 15 games.

#FamilyTies: Being members of the Ragin' Cajuns softball team has added meaning for three families. Sisters Shellie Landry and Jaime Landry are competing together collegiately for the first time (Jaime redshirted in 2015). Kara Gremillion is following in the footsteps of her aunts, Stacie Gremillion and Sandy Percle, who donned the Cajuns uniform in the mid-1980s. And, Chelsea Lotief joins her father, head coach Michael Lotief, in the dugout while suiting up for the Ragin' Cajuns like her mother, Stefni (Whitton) Lotief, did from 1987-90.

#GeauxCajuns

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Players Mentioned

Victoria Brown

Lexie Elkins

Kara Gremillion

Haley Hayden

Jaime Landry

Shellie Landry

Chelsea Lotief

DJ Sanders

Macey Smith

Alex Stewart

Kylee Jo Trahan

Kelsey Vincent

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