BATON ROUGE – Leading into to Friday’s NCAA Baton Rouge Regional at Tiger Park, LSUsports.net will profile each of the visiting schools. Take a look at the field, and get all-session tickets for the softball regional in Baton Rouge.
All-Session tickets are on-sale now and can be purchased online at www.LSUtix.net as well as in person at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office or by phone at 225-578-2184 or 800-960-TKTS. Chair back seating in sections 103, 104 and 105 have already been sold out for the weekend.
The LSU ticket office is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on the first floor of the Athletics/Administration Building.
General Information
Location: Lafayette, La.
Founded: 1900
Enrollment: 16,320
Nickname: Ragin’ Cajuns
Colors: Vermillion and White
Conference: Sun Belt
Home Field (capacity): Ragin’ Cajuns Softball Park (2,250)
2010 Record: 42-16 (19-5 Sun Belt)
NCAA Appearances: 20 (Last in 2009)
NCAA Tournament Notes:
The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns are making their 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 20th overall. The 1998 season is the only time since 1989 that the Cajuns have failed to appear in an NCAA Regional.
This will be Louisiana-Lafayette’s fifth time playing in a regional at Tiger Park. They were eliminated in each of the first three, but upset No. 9 national seed LSU in 2008 to advance to a super regional.
Louisiana-Lafayette has a 42-16 overall record and went 19-5 in conference play to earn its third consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular season championship. They clinched an automatic postseason bid by winning the league tournament as well.
The Cajuns started the season ranked in the Top 25 and moved to as high as No. 16 before dropping out of the rankings. They played a demanding non-conference schedule but compiled a 1-5 mark against Top 25 opponents.
The regional will include two opponents the Cajuns have not faced this season, top seed LSU and first round opponent Texas A&M. Louisiana-Lafayette played McNeese three times this season, going 2-1 against the Cowgirls.
Offensively, Louisiana-Lafayette is led by first baseman Gabriele Bridges and right fielder Christi Orgeron. Both players knocked a team-high 15 home runs, while combining for more than 100 RBIs. The Cajuns also feature centerfielder Vallie Gaspard, who hit a blistering .421, and scoring threat Erikka Murphy, who led the Cajuns with 50 runs and recorded 32 stolen bases in 33 attempts.
In the circle, Louisiana-Lafayette has a dynamic duo of Donna Bourgeois and Brittany Cuevas. Both pitchers notched 20 wins in 2010, averaging roughly one strikeout per inning, while holding batters to slightly better than a .200 average. Bourgeois was tabbed as a First Team All-Sun Belt selection after putting up an impressive 1.84 ERA.
The Cajuns led all members of the Sun Belt with six players on the All-Conference teams. First team selections included Bourgeois, Gaspard, third baseman Melissa Verde and catcher Lana Bowers. Bridges and Orgeron were named to the second team. Additionally, Stefni Lotief shared Co-Coach of the Year with Florida International’s Beth McClendon.
Louisiana-Lafayette is led by Co-Head Coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief. Stefni is in her 10th season, having compiled a career record of 494-126, while Michael is in his 8th season and boasts a 393-103 mark. Stefni has been named Sun Belt Coach of the Year six times, including this season.
Probable starters:
21 Donna Bourgeois
Junior 5-7 Pitcher
Lafayette, La.
22-9, 1.84 ERA, 179 strikeouts, .211 Batting average against
Season Profile
Pitched in 31 games this season… Notched a decision in every appearance while compiling a win-loss record of 22-9… Held opponents to a .211 batting average… Recorded an average of nearly one strikeout per inning pitched… First team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.
10 Brittany Cuevas
Senior 5-10 Pitcher
Brazoria, Texas
20-7, 2.52 ERA, 189 strikeouts, .206 Batting average against
Season Profile
Pitched in 28 games this year… Allowed just a 2.52 ERA while putting together a record of 20-7… 27 of her 28 starts were complete games… Struck out 189 batters and walked 49… Opponents hit only .206 against her this season.
6 Lana Bowers
Senior 5-10 Catcher
Crosby, Texas
.305 avg, 29 runs, 34 RBIs, 8 home runs
Season Profile
Played in all 58 games this season… A defensive standout behind the plate, recording 289 putouts while earning a .991 fielding percentage… At the plate, hit .305 while knocking in 34 RBIS and scoring 29 runs… First team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.
25 Gabriele Bridges
Junior 6-0 First Base
Lafitte, La.
.310 avg, 24 runs, 49 RBIs, 15 home runs
Season Profile
Played in all 58 games this season… Made only five errors and recorded a fielding percentage of .986… Hit .310 and scored 24 runs… Launched a team-high 15 home runs and batted in 49 runs… Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.
4 Kelly Cormier
Senior 5-2 Second Base
Abbeville, La.
.330 avg, 14 runs, 5 RBIs, 0 home runs
Season Profile
Played in 56 of 58 games this season, starting in 31… Compiled a .330 average while knocking in five runs and scoring 14 of her own … Struck out the least amount of times of any regular starter with only 11 in 88 at-bats.
16 Melissa Verde
Senior 5-5 Third Base
Beaumont, Texas
.274 avg, 25 runs, 42 RBIs, 3 home runs
Season Profile
Played in all 58 games this year… Scored 25 runs and batted in 42 runs… Hit 13 doubles as well as three home runs… Impressive defensively at third base with a .957 fielding percentage… First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.
15 Nerissa Myers
Freshman 5-5 Shortstop
Petal, Miss.
.287 avg, 31 runs, 17 RBIs, 1 home run
Season Profile
Played in 57 games this season… Had an impressive freshman campaign, hitting .287 while driving in 17 runs and scoring 31… Stole 15 bases in 19 attempts… Struggled at times defensively, making 10 more errors than any other teammate.
13 Erikka Murphy
Sophomore 5-4 Left Field
Victoria, Texas
.324 avg, 50 runs, 12 RBIs, 0 home runs
Season Profile
Played and started in all 57 of 58 games… Hit an impressive .324 and scored 50 runs, by far the most on the team… Also had 12 RBISs… Led the team in steals with 32 stolen bases in 33 attempts.
14 Vallie Gaspard
Senior 5-4 Center Field
Maurice, La.
.421 avg, 38 runs, 17 RBIs, 0 home runs
Season Profile
Played in all 58 games this season… Scored 38 runs and belted 17 RBISs… Led the team in batting average, hitting an extremely impressive .421…Also stole 16 bases this season… Struck out only 12 times in 171 at-bats… First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.
12 Christi Orgeron
Sophomore 5-11 Right Field
New Orleans, La.
.324 avg, 33 runs, 56 RBIs, 15 home runs
Season Profile
Played in 56 games this year… Blasted a team-high 15 home runs… Also showed she could hit for average, collecting 57 hits for a .324 batting average… Scored 33 runs and batted in a team-high 56 RBISs… Also hit a team-high 16 doubles… Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.
7 Britni Soria
Freshman 5-6 Designated Player
Ft. Worth, Texas
.259 avg, 19 runs, 18 RBIs, 1 home run
Season Profile
Played in 44 games this season… Notched 19 runs and 18 RBISs while hitting .259… Also had a home run and seven doubles… Was a perfect 6-for-6 in stole base attempts.
Bench
# Name, Pos Ht Cl Avg, Runs, RBIS, HR
3 Ashley Ray UTL 5-6 So. .263, 3, 0, 0
5 Jensen Tedelski OF 5-3 Fr. .200, 10, 0, 0
8 Megan Waterman UTL 5-7 Fr. .000, 1, 0, 0
9 Taryn Broussard INF 5-10 So. .294, 5, 12, 5
17 Callie Philen UTL 6-0 Fr. .000, 0, 0, 0
19 Courtney Trahan INF 5-6 Sr. .000, 22, 0, 0
20 Katie Smith OF 5-6 Jr. .350, 6, 2, 0
22 Jennifer Martin INF 5-7 Fr. .000, 5, 0, 0
23 Brianna Cherry OF 5-10 Fr. .067, 1, 3, 0
24 Sarah Dreheim C 6-0 Fr. .222, 4, 5, 1
27 Jessica Dupont INF 5-8 Sr. .143, 0, 2, 0
29 Megan Granger INF 5-9 So. .000, 0, 0, 0
31 Paige Cormier INF 5-5 So. .000, 3, 0, 0