LAFAYETTE – 14th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball received its NCAA postseason assignment on Sunday as it was revealed during the Softball Selection Show that the squad was placed into the NCAA Tournament at the Baton Rouge Regional at Tiger Park on the LSU campus.
The Sun Belt Conference champions were awarded the league's automatic bid into the postseason event, which was secured when they topped Texas State in Saturday's conference tournament championship game in Troy, Ala.
The NCAA Baton Rouge Regional will feature top-seeded LSU (41-18), Louisiana (45-6)
, McNeese (42-16) and Fairfield (26-26)
. The winner of the regional will play the winner of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional which features No. 4 national seed Florida State (51-6-1), Georgia (33-21), Jacksonville State (40-10) and Princeton (25-18) in the super regional round for a trip to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
It's the Ragin' Cajuns seventh trip to Baton Rouge for an NCAA Regional, and the first since defeating LSU in 2013 to advance to the Ann Arbor Super Regional. Louisiana has claimed a regional championship in each of the last three trips to Baton Rouge (2008, 2010, 2013).
Action in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional begins Friday with Louisiana and McNeese at 3 p.m. on ESPN3 followed by LSU and Fairfield at 5:30pm on ESPN3. A complete listing of times for games on Saturday and Sunday are to be determined.
Full information on the regional will be announced in the coming days at LSUsports.net.
Louisiana appears in the NCAA Softball Tournament for the 19th consecutive season, a streak which dates back to the 1999 season.
It's the 27th appearance overall, all coming in the past 28 years, for the nationally recognized program. Since 1990, the Ragin' Cajuns have missed the NCAA's postseason event only once (1998).
The Ragin' Cajuns carry a five-year streak of advancing to at least the NCAA Super Regional round (2012-16). The last of the program's six NCAA Women's College World Series appearance came in 2014.
The Ragin' Cajuns enter the NCAA Tournament on 13-game winning streak and have won 28 of 29 since March 9 when the squad last lost a game of regulation length (L, 4-5 vs. Baylor). The team's 45-6 record is the program's best pre-NCAA Tournament mark since 2012 (49-4).
Louisiana's offense is led by USA Softball Player of the Year Top 10 finalist and Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year
DJ Sanders who has hit 28 home runs, posted 78 RBI and leads the nation in every major hitting category. Sanders leads a balanced attack in which eight of the nine starters have generated 40-plus hits and four other individuals (
Haley Hayden,
Aleah Craighton,
Lexie Comeaux and
Daniella Chavez) have posted at least 45 RBI.
In the pitching circle,
Alex Stewart (25-3, 1.66 ERA) is coming off a dominant performance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament where in 18 innings of work she allowed only two runs, seven hits and struck out 20. Stewart, who has pitched shutout softball in six of her last seven starts, is 10-0 with a 0.76 ERA and has allowed just eight runs and 25 hits over 55-1/3 innings pitched the last four weeks.
For more information on Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball, as well as all of Ragin' Cajuns Athletics, visit
RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow along with the team on Facebook (/
RaginCajunSoftball),Twitter (
@RaginCajunsSB) and Instagram (
@RaginCajunsSoftball).
RAGIN' CAJUNS SOFTBALL NCAA POSTSEASON FACTS
- The Ragin' Cajuns 27 NCAA Tournament appearances rank eighth (8th) in NCAA history (tied with Cal State Fullerton).
- Louisiana is just one of nine schools to play in the NCAA Tournament every year since 2000. The list includes: Alabama, Arizona, Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington.
- The Cajuns are 59-32 all-time in the NCAA Regional round, including a 25-5 mark in claiming regional championships and advancing to the super regional round in seven of the last nine appearances (2008-16).
- The program's all-time overall record in the NCAA Tournament stands at 71-55, representing the 12th-most wins in NCAA history.
NCAA BATON ROUGE REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 19, 2017
G1: 3 p.m. – McNeese vs. Louisiana (ESPN3)
G2: 5:30 p.m. – Fairfield vs. LSU (ESPN3)
Saturday, May 20, 2017
G3: 12 p.m. – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
G4: 2:30 p.m. – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
G5: 5 p.m. – Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Sunday, May 21, 2017
G6: 1:30 p.m. – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
G7: 4 p.m. – (if necessary) Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6
IN. Bobcats Earn NCAA Championship Berth; No. 2 Seed At College Station Regional
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State University softball program will be the No. 2 seed and face No. 3 seed Texas on Friday (May 19) at 4:00 p.m. in the NCAA College Station Regional (played at Aggie Softball Complex), it was announced Sunday on a national ESPN2 telecast. The Bobcats found out their postseason fate as the team gathered at Pavilion at Bobcat Stadium to watch the selection show.
Texas A&M, the top seed in the four-team, double-elimination College Station Regional, will host fourth-seed Texas Southern at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The Bobcats and Longhorns will face off on the Longhorn Network, while the Texas A&M, the No. 9 national seed, vs. Texas Southern game will air on ESPN3.
For ticket information, fans can visit the official Texas A&M website HERE.
The Bobcats and Longhorn have met 58 times on the softball diamond. The programs met twice during the regular season with the Bobcats winning each (2-1 in Austin and 2-1 (9- inn.) in San Marcos). The Bobcats also faced Texas A&M during the regular season in College Station with the Aggies picking up a 5-1 victory. TXST and Texas Southern have never met.
Texas State will compete in the program's seventh NCAA Regional under the direction of head coach Ricci Woodard (since 2001) and eighth overall, posting an 8-14 record in Regional play. The Bobcats are making a Regional appearance in back-to-back seasons for the second time in program history. TXST went 1-2 as the three seed at the Tuscaloosa Regional last season. The program also made consecutive Regional appearances in 2011 (Austin Regional – No. 4 seed) and 2012 (College Station Regional – No. 3 seed).
The Bobcats entered championship week with an RPI of 29 and a strength of schedule ranking of 55. Texas State faced six teams to receive a Regional bid, including two host institutions.
The winner of the College Station Regional will face the winner of the Knoxville, Tenn., Regional hosted by Tennessee in a Super Regional. The Knoxville Regional features Tennessee, Ohio State, USC Upstate and Longwood.
NCAA College Station Regional Schedule
Friday, May 19
Game 1 - #3 seed Texas vs #2 seed Texas State – 5:30 p.m. (Longhorn Network)
Game 2 - #4 seed Texas Southern vs #1 seed Texas A&M – 7:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, May 20
Game 3 - Game 1 Loser vs Game 2 Loser (ESPN3)
Game 4 - Game 1 Winner vs Game 2 Winner (ESPN3)
Sunday, May 21
Game 5 - Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Loser (ESPN3)
Game 6 - Game 4 Winner vs Game 5 Winner (ESPN3)
Monday, May 22
Game 7 (if necessary) - Game 6 Winner vs Game 6 Loser (ESPN3)