Softball Preview: Ragin' Cajuns Invitational

Games 16-21: Ragin' Cajuns Invitational (Lamson Park)
Friday, Mar. 3 • 4 p.m. (CST) • Alcorn • Lamson Park
Friday, Mar. 3 • 6 p.m. (CST) • North Dakota State • Lamson Park
Saturday, Mar. 4 • 2 p.m. (CST) • North Dakota State • Lamson Park
Saturday, Mar. 4 • 4:30 p.m. (CST) • Texas A&M-Corpus Christi • Lamson Park
Sunday, Mar. 5 • 11:30 a.m. (CST) • Texas A&M-Corpus Christi • Lamson Park
Sunday, Mar. 5 • 1:45 p.m. (CST) • Alcorn • Lamson Park

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday – Team Friend Challenge
Saturday – Alumni Day
Sunday – Military Appreciation (ROTC to present colors at 1^st game; military personnel will be recognized)

Tournament Central
Notes: Louisiana | North Dakota State
Radio: ESPN 1420-AM | Live Stats
Rosters: Louisiana | Alcorn | North Dakota State | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Schedules: Louisiana | Alcorn | North Dakota State | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Stats: Louisiana | Alcorn | North Dakota State | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @ULRaginCajuns | @RaginCajunsSB
Opponents Twitter: @alcornsoftball | @NDSUsoftball | @IslandersSball

THE COACHES
Louisiana: Michael Lotief (Louisiana, 1985)
Career Record: 695-172-1 (15th season)           Record at Louisiana: Same

Alcorn: Josef Rankin (Southern, 2002)
Career Record: 23-68 (3rd season)                      Record at Alcorn: Same

North Dakota State: Darren Mueller (North Dakota State, 1994)
Career Record: 546-292 (16th season)               Record at NDSU: Same

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: Blake Miller (UNC Pembroke, 2000)
Career Record: 121-205 (6th season)                 Record at A&MCC: 3-10 (1st season)

5 THINGS TO KNOW
1 - It's the final non-conference weekend of the 2017 season for Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns face Alcorn, North Dakota State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational.

2 - Head coach Michael Lotief sits five wins away from his 700th career win. With six games on the docket in the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational, there's an opportunity to reach the milestone this weekend.

3 - The Ragin' Cajuns are coming off their most productive week at the plate, producing 58 runs over six games in last week's Mardi Gras Invitational.

4 - The Ragin' Cajuns are continuing their season-opening, 23-game homestand at Lamson Park. The squad will enjoy the comforts of home through March 7.

5 - Louisiana's lineup leads the nation in most walks drawn with 102. The squad has coerced five or more walks in 12 of the 15 games played thus far.

FOR STARTERS
No. 18-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball (11-4) is headed toward the final leg of a season-opening, 23-game homestand at Lamson Park. Up next is the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational set for Friday-Sunday, March 3-5 followed by a midweek doubleheader with Baylor on March 7 which closes out the homestand. Louisiana opens play in the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational on Friday facing Alcorn at 4 p.m. and North Dakota State at 6 p.m.

TOURNAMENT PLAY ROUNDS OUT
The Ragin' Cajuns Invitational brings to a close in-season tournament play for the Ragin' Cajuns. It's also the final non-conference weekend of the 2017 season. Beginning next weekend at Appalachian State, the final nine weekends of the season will be Sun Belt series.

MILESTONE WATCH
Head coach Michael Lotief is five wins shy of his 700th career win. With eight games remaining on the season-opening homestand that runs through March 7, there's a good chance the milestone comes in front of the Ragin' Cajuns faithful at Lamson Park. Lotief, the 2016 recipient of the NFCA's Donna Newberry Perseverance Award and ASA/USA Softball Louisiana Softball Hall of Fame inductee, currently owns a career record of 695-172-1 (.801).

SANDERS' SURGE
DJ Sanders closed the month of February as the Ragin' Cajuns hottest hitter, hitting 12-of-26 (.462) at the plate over the final two weekends with 15 runs scored, five home runs and 12 RBI. During the month-ending stretch, Sanders reached base 21 times over 35 plate appearances (.600 OBP) and struck out only three times. For the month, Sanders hit .333, scored a team-high 18 runs, collected a team-high 17 RBI and saw 11 of her 16 hits go for extra bases (five doubles, six home runs) resulting in a .813 slugging percentage.

THE DAWN OF DENHAM
Freshman pitcher Alyssa Denham showed in February that she's going to be a dependable arm for the Ragin' Cajuns in the circle. Denham completed her first month as a collegian with a 4-1 record and 1.29 ERA highlighted by a complete game, two-hit shutout of No. 4 Alabama that secured the series win for the Ragin' Cajuns. Denham worked 38 innings in the circle over the season's first three weekends, limiting foes to 10 runs (seven earned), 21 hits and a .159 average. In all three weekends of the month, Denham yielded fewer hits than innings pitched.

THE POWER OF "US"
So far in the young season, when all of the hitters in the Cajuns lineup are working together to produce results the dividends have been positive and plentiful. The team has seemed to embrace that approach as all nine of the starters have posted at least eight hits and five have already generated double digit RBI totals through the first three weekends.

THE FORCE BEHIND "US"
Lamson Park has long been the site of large crowds making it a tough venue for the opposition – and this season has been no different. Louisiana has drawn above 2,000 in attendance at Lamson Park in seven out of the nine playing dates so far. The current total attendance is 18,793 and the average is 2,088.

DANIELLA'S DRIVING 'EM IN
Junior transfer Daniella Chavez had her most productive weekend to date during last weekend's Mardi Gras Invitational. Chavez posted 10 RBI over the first four games of the tournament. She delivered multiple-RBI games in three consecutive games to open the event. Being a run producer is nothing new for the Kansas transfer, as she piled up 122 RBI over her two-year stay with the Jayhawks.

SETTLING IN
With each passing weekend, Lexie Comeaux is becoming more comfortable in her role as the Ragin' Cajuns new starting catcher. Starting with the Alabama series, she's caught the vast majority of the innings, is moving quicker behind the plate and has become more agressive. She finished strong at the plate against Alabama, producing a 3-for-3 showing with a homer and three RBI in Game 2 of the series and following up with a single and two walks in the finale. In the Mardi Gras Invitational she threw out two more runners attempting to steal and has held opponents to 4-for-8 in stolen base opportunities this season.

STEWART'S STEADY
All-American pitcher Alex Stewart has surrendered five hits or less in all but one of her five starts. She's allowed just 11 earned runs through 30 innings pitched. Free bases continue to be rare for the senior hurler, with only eight issued overall and just two in her last 12 innings of work.

INFIELD ROADBLOCK
Ragin' Cajuns pitchers are backed up by one of the nation's stingiest infield defense. There's the quick speed of Haley Hayden (first base) and Kassidy Zeringue (second base) on the right side and the exceptional range of motion by DJ Sanders (shortstop) and quick reflexes of Kara Gremillion (third base) on the left side that make it tough for opposing hitters to get ground balls out of the infield. The group has committed only seven errors through 254 total chances.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTURE
The Ragin' Cajuns hitters have turned patience and strong plate discipline into a nation-leading 102 walks through the first three weekends. Louisiana has drawn five or more walks in 12 of 15 games. In last weekend's Mardi Gras Invitational, the squad coerced 49 walks over 38 innings at the plate.

CLUTCH IN THE STRETCH
The Ragin' Cajuns have shown that they can come through with the clutch at bats in the late stages of the game. Louisiana holds a 38-14 advantage in runs over the sixth and seventh innings. The run production in the latter two frames represents 34 percent of the 111 total runs scored.

NOTHING IS FREE
The Ragin' Cajuns pitching staff has limited foes to 70 hits and surrendered only 31 walks through 96 innings pitched. Opponents are batting a mere .201 off of the Cajuns' hurlers. The opposition has surpassed five hits just four times in 15 games.

THE CORE FOUR
Despite losing a heralded group of sluggers from the 2016 team– namely Sara Corbello, Lexie Elkins, Shellie Landry and Kelsey Vincent – to graduation, the Ragin' Cajuns returned 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.

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

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."

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.

FITTED FOR THE ROLE
Kara Gremillion, last year's nine-hole hitter, has moved 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
#TwoGrandTallies: Haley Hayden scored 16 runs in February, upping her career total to 205. Hayden is closing in on the school's all-time career record of 243 scored by Nerissa Myers from 2010-13. The odds are in her favor: in her previous three seasons she reached 60 runs.

#Sparkplug: Kelli Martinez is not your typical nine-hole hitter. The junior left fielder posted four multiple-hit games, 15 base hits and six RBI during the month of February.

#LivingOnTheBases: Aleah Craighton has already drawn 23 walks over 59 plate appearances. She's one pace to shatter her single-season high walks total (27 in 2016) and may challenge the school's single-season record 61 set by Lacey Bertucci (2007) and Gabriele Bridges (2011).

#BuildingBlocks: Redshirt freshman Beth Ashley opened the first month of the debut season of her collegiate career with 13 hits and 11 RBI.

#HittingAllAngles: Given the amount of home run production lost from 2016, it stood to reason that the Cajuns would have to find the gaps in the outfield to keep its offense efficient. So far, the squad has as many doubles (16) as home runs and has legged out five triples.

#NationsBest: Louisiana has an active streak of 58 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).

#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 conducted by FloSoftball.com which ranked the facility No. 1 in college softball.

#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.

#SisterAct: Alyssa Denham is the fourth daughter of Steven and Kathy Denhman to play collegiate softball. All three of her elder sisters played softball at McNeese and were All-Southland Conference selections: Stephenie (shortstop, 2001-03), Jessica (pitcher, 2003-06) and Tiffany (pitcher, 2009-12).

#GeauxCajuns

Softball Preview: Ragin' Cajuns Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Beth Ashley

Lexie Comeaux

Sara Corbello

Aleah Craighton

Alyssa Denham

Lexie Elkins

Kara Gremillion

Kourtney Gremillion

Miranda Grotenhuis

Haley Hayden

Shellie Landry

Chelsea Lotief

Kelli Martinez

DJ Sanders

Alex Stewart

Kelsey Vincent

Kassidy Zeringue

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Softball Preview: Ragin' Cajuns Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Beth Ashley

Lexie Comeaux

Sara Corbello

Aleah Craighton

Alyssa Denham

Lexie Elkins

Kara Gremillion

Kourtney Gremillion

Miranda Grotenhuis

Haley Hayden

Shellie Landry

Chelsea Lotief

Kelli Martinez

DJ Sanders

Alex Stewart

Kelsey Vincent

Kassidy Zeringue

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