Softball Preview: 31st Annual Louisiana Classics

Games 1-6: 31st Annual Louisiana Classics (Lamson Park)
Friday, Feb. 10 • 3 p.m. (CST) • DePaul • Lamson Park
Friday, Feb. 10 • 5:30 p.m. (CST) • Iowa State • Lamson Park
Saturday, Feb. 11• 2 p.m. (CST) • DePaul • Lamson Park
Saturday, Feb. 11• 4:30 p.m. (CST) • Ball State • Lamson Park
Sunday, Feb. 12• 1:30 p.m. (CST) • Southern Miss • Lamson Park
Sunday, Feb. 12• 3:30 p.m. (CST) • Southern Miss • Lamson Park

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday – Take a Kid to the Game (children 11 and under receive free admission with paying adult)
Saturday – Girl Scout Day (the troop with the best poster will win a pizza party at Pizza Village)
Sunday – Poster Day (all fans receive Ragin' Cajuns team poster; players will available for autographs after final game)

Tournament Central
Notes: Louisiana | Ball State | DePaul | Iowa State
Radio: ESPN 1420-AM | Live Stats
Rosters: Louisiana | Ball State | DePaul | Iowa State | Southern Miss
Schedules: Louisiana | Ball State | DePaul | Iowa State | Southern Miss
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @ULRaginCajuns | @RaginCajunsSB
Opponents Twitter: @BallStateSB | @DePaulAthletics | @CycloneSB | @SouthernMissSB

THE COACHES
Louisiana: Michael Lotief (Louisiana, 1985)
Career Record: 684-168-1 (15th season)        Record at Louisiana: Same

Ball State: Megan Ciolli Bartlett (Notre Dame, 2005)
Career Record: 22-32 (2nd season)      Record at BSU: Same

DePaul: Eugene Lenti (DePaul, 1979)
Career Record: 1,263-630-6 (35th season)     Record at DePaul: Same

Iowa State: Jamie Trachsel (St. Cloud State, 2001)
Career Record: 221-109 (7th season) Record at ISU: 0-0 (1st season)

Southern Miss: Wendy Hogue (William Carey, 1998)
Career Record: 421-214 (13th season)   Record at USM: 48-62 (3rd season)

RAISE THE CURTAIN
The No. 11-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team launches the 2017 season, the 37th overall in program history, by hosting the 31st Annual Louisiana Classics Friday-Sunday, Feb. 10-12 at Lamson Park. Louisiana welcomes Ball State, DePaul, Iowa State and Southern Miss to Lamson Park for the three-day event. The Ragin' Cajuns begin play on Friday, Feb. 10 with matchups against DePaul at 3 p.m. and Iowa State at 5:30 p.m.

THE COMFORTS OF HOME
The 31st Annual Louisiana Classics marks the beginning of a season-opening 23-game homestand at Lamson Park for No. 11 Louisiana that runs through March 7 and includes three tournaments, a Top 25 weekend series against No. 7 Alabama (Feb. 17-19) and a midweek doubleheader with No. 21 Baylor (March 7).

CAJUNS IN THE LOUISIANA CLASSICS
Over the years, the Ragin' Cajuns have enjoyed unrivaled success in the Louisiana Classics. Louisiana is 117-14-1 all-time in the event, an annual occurrence dating back to 1987.

OPENING DAY SUCCESS
The Ragin' Cajuns are 33-3 all-time in season openers, successful each time dating back to 2002.

THE CORE FOUR
Despite losing a heralded group of sluggers – namely Sara Corbello, Lexie Elkins, Shellie Landry and Kelsey Vincent – to graduation, the Ragin' Cajuns return the majority of their everyday starters including career .360-hitter Haley Hayden, home run threats Aleah Craighton and DJ Sanders who both clubbed 18 home runs last season and Kara Gremillion, who finished the 2016 season as one of the team's hottest hitters (hit .457 in May).

PITCHING REMAINS INTACT
In the pitching circle, the Ragin' Cajuns bring back the entire group from last season. 2016 All-American and Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year Alex Stewart (29-6, 1.94 ERA) returns as the team's lead pitcher for a staff that ranked Top 10 nationally with a 2.06 ERA.

TRADING PLACES
Familiar faces will be in new places when the first pitch of 2017 is thrown. Haley Hayden slides over to first base (from second base), Kassidy Zeringue moves from the outfield to second base and Kelli Martinez goes to the opposite corner of the outfield (from right over to left).

STEPPING UP
A pair of players who have worked their way through the system, after redshirting during their freshman season, make their debut this weekend. Sophomore Lexie Comeaux will be behind the plate catching, while redshirt freshman Beth Ashley takes over in right field.

5 THINGS TO KNOW
1 - The Ragin' Cajuns are opening a 23-game homestand that keeps the squad at Lamson Park through March 7.

2 - Fans will notice several improvements to Lamson Park including turf in the infield foul territory, newly painted left field bleachers, reconstructed outfield fence and the completed indoor hitting facility in the left field corner.

3 - Keep an eye on the tweaks to the Ragin' Cajuns' offensive approach. How does the style change following the departure of key sluggers from the 2016 team.

4 - Louisiana has historically dominated at Lamson Park and has won over 90 percent of its games at home the past decade. The 23-game homestand provides the opportunity for a fast start to the 2017 season.

5 - It's a busy weekend for the Ragin' Cajuns as the squad has six games scheduled in the Louisiana Classics. In fact, in all three tournaments at Lamson Park this season Louisiana will play six games.

A DIFFERENT STYLE OF PLAY
It stands to reason that the Ragin' Cajuns offense will feature a new look in 2017 given the amount of power and production that departed after the 2016 season. Head coach Michael Lotief foresees a different approach than the previous two years. "I think this team will be more suited toward pitching and defense," Lotief said. "I do not anticipate us scoring all the runs or hitting all the home runs like we've done the past couple of seasons."

IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY
Michael Lotief's journey as head coach of the Ragin' Cajuns began alongside his wife, Stefni, serving as co-head coach with her from 2003-12. Now their daughter, Chelsea, gets to write her chapter with her father. After redshirting in 2016, Chelsea is set to take the field for the first time. She's projected to serve as one of the squad's main pinch runners.

A PROVEN MEASURE
Lexie Comeaux – who was slotted for first or second base – filling the spot at catcher is a similar situation to former Ragin' Cajuns catchers Joy Webre who was a shortstop and Lana Bowers who was an outfielder before being converted to the position. Webre and Bowers turned out to be four-year starters for Louisiana. Comeaux's arrival at the position was spurned by a season-ending knee injury suffered by Miranda Grotenhuis who had worked her way into the spot during the fall season.

ROLE REVERSAL
After being looked after and brought along by former catcher Lexie Elkins last year, it's All-American pitcher Alex Stewart's turn to take care of the catcher. Stewart's experience will be vital for Lexie Comeaux who ventures into the position for the first time as a collegiate player.

FITTED FOR THE ROLE
Kara Gremillion is expected to move to the leadoff spot in the batting order for the 2017 season. Given last season's performance at the plate, it seems like a natural fit. As a freshman in 2016, Gremillion displayed poise at the plate, with 30 walks against 11 strikeouts in 173 plate appearances (.480 on base percentage).

MRS. VERSATILITY
Haley Hayden's move to first base marks the third position she's played in a Ragin' Cajuns uniform. The senior from West Monroe patrolled center field as a freshman in 2014 and covered second base the past two seasons.

SHE'S DEPENDABLE, TOO
Throughout her career, Haley Hayden has proved to be the Ragin' Cajuns' most consistent hitter. Last season was a prime example of the stability Hayden provides in the lineup – hit .362 in February, .360 in March, .388 in April and .390 in May. She's produced at least 60 runs and 60 hits each of the past three years. Last season, she had at least one base hit in 45 of 55 games, had 10 different hitting streaks, and went the entire season without consecutive hitless games.

THE DYNAMIC DUO
A year ago, the rise of Aleah Craighton and DJ Sanders as prolific hitters was on display as they both hit 18 home runs. Now it's their turn to be the force in the heart of the lineup. Craighton has tallied 20-plus extra base hits the first two years of her career. Of her 109 career base hits, over 50 percent (58) have produced extra bases. Sanders saw a significant increase in power (from four home runs as a freshman to 18) and run production (from 27 RBI as a freshman to 58) during the 2016 season.

DIAMOND NOTES
#EveryoneLovesLamson: Due in large part to the softball savvy fan base and the "joie de vivre" (exuberant enjoyment of life) of the Cajun culture, Lamson Park leaves a lasting impression on visitors. That was affirmed in a recent poll coducted by FloSoftball.com which ranked the facility No. 1 in college softball.

#FansDream: 36 total home games at Lamson Park and the longest stretch without softball at the facility all season long is two weeks. It doesn't get any better than that.

#LeadCandidate: A second team NFCA All-American pick in 2016 who set personal season-bests for doubles (12), home runs (18), RBI (56) and extra base hits (32), Aleah Craighton was chosen as the Sun Belt's Preseason Player of the Year and was listed on the Top 50 Watch List for the USA Softball Player of the Year award.

#OddsOnFavorite: Louisiana was selected as the preseason Sun Belt Conference favorite for the 2017 season. The Ragin' Cajuns received all 10 of the first place votes in the SBC's preseason poll and sat atop the ranking with 100 total points.

#FamiliarTerritory: The Ragin' Cajuns have finished inside the Top 15 of the national polls each of the past five seasons. That's where they begin the 2017 season. Louisiana was ranked No. 11 in the preseason editions of both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls.

#MilestoneWatch: Head coach Michael Lotief enters the 2017 season just 16 wins shy of his 700th career triumph. With a 23-game homestand at Lamson Park to start the season, there's a good chance it comes in front of the Ragin' Cajuns faithful. Lotief, the 2016 recipient of the NFCA's Donna Newberry Perseverance Award and ASA/USA Softball Louisiana Softball Hall of Fame inductee, carries a career record of 684-168-1 (.802).

#NationsBest: Louisiana has an active streak of 55 consecutive weeks ranked in the national polls dating back to April 2013 and has finished ranked in one of the national polls each of the past nine seasons (2008-16) and 24 times in the past 27 seasons (1990-2016).

#FamilyTies: Sisters Kara and Kourtney Gremillion are following in the footsteps of their aunts, Stacie Gremillion and Sandy Percle, who donned the Cajuns uniform in the mid-1980s. Chelsea Lotief, daughter of head coach Michael Lotief, is suiting up for the Ragin' Cajuns like her mother, Stefni (Whitton) Lotief, did from 1987-90.

#GeauxCajuns

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Players Mentioned

Beth Ashley

Lexie Comeaux

Sara Corbello

Aleah Craighton

Lexie Elkins

Kara Gremillion

Kourtney Gremillion

Miranda Grotenhuis

Haley Hayden

Shellie Landry

Chelsea Lotief

Kelli Martinez

DJ Sanders

Alex Stewart

Kelsey Vincent

Kassidy Zeringue