2019 Sun Belt Softball Weekly News and Notes:
Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Championship | Records Book
 
AROUND #SUNBELTSB
• This week's Sun Belt softball schedule features 24 matchups with four set for live coverage. The first and third games of the Louisiana-Georgia Southern series are slated for ESPN+ to go along with two non-conference, midweek matchups on SEC Network Plus.
 
• Louisiana (26-4, 9-0 Sun Belt) enters the week sitting 10th in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and 11th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls. The Ragin' Cajuns record is the sixth best in NCAA Division I, behind Alabama (33-1), UCLA (28-1), Oklahoma (29-2), Florida State (32-3) and Virginia Tech (27-4).
 
• In the latest NCAA Division I Softball RPI, the Sun Belt has six teams in the top 100 – Louisiana (24th), Troy (53rd), Texas State (76th), UTA (88th), Coastal Carolina (92nd) and South Alabama (95th).
 
• Louisiana is the only Sun Belt team to sweep its first three conference series. Five of the Cajuns' last six league wins have come in six innings or less.
 
• Louisiana continues to be among the top run-producing teams in the nation this season ranked second in runs per game (8.07), fourth in batting average (.355), fifth in on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.616) and 10th in home runs per game (1.53). The Cajuns' 103 extra-base hits already surpass their 98 in 57 games played in 2018.

• Appalachian State (20-8, 8-1) is the only other Sun Belt team besides Louisiana to earn series wins in the first three series of the season. The Mountaineers are having their best start in school history and have reached 20 wins for the first time since 2013. That season, Appalachian State went 31-22 overall and 17-7 in conference play to win the Southern Conference title.
 
• Appalachian State junior pitcher Kenzie Longanecker boasts the conference's best record (12-1) in the circle so far this season and ranks second in earned run average (1.93). Her win total is the most by a Mountaineer pitcher since Alissa Schoelkopf finished 20-12 in 2013.
 
• Louisiana senior outfielder Keeli Milligan ranks second in the country in stolen bases per game (1.17). Milligan, who played three seasons at Texas A&M, enters the week ranked tied for second in career stolen bases (140) among active Division I players. Her proficiency on the base pads has the Cajuns among the nation's best, ranked second in stolen bases per game (3.43).
 
• The Sun Belt boasts two of the nation's top 15 strikeout leaders – Louisiana junior pitcher Summer Ellyson ranks third with 153 and Troy freshman pitcher Leanna Johnson ranks 14th with 131.
 
• The conference is also home to two of the top 25 toughest players to strike out in UTA junior first base Aileen Garcia and senior outfielder Laura Curry. Garcia ranks tied for 15th with two strikeouts in 90 at-bats and Curry ranks 23rd with three strikeouts in 99 at-bats.

• Sun Belt softball is honoring the life of Geri Ann Glasco, daughter of Louisiana head coach Gerry Glasco. Geri Ann Glasco passed away on Jan. 24 as a result of a multi-vehicle accident. A standout student-athlete at Oregon, she was set to serve her first season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Ragin' Cajuns. To honor Geri Ann's memory throughout the 2019 season, Sun Belt teams are wearing stickers on their helmets blazoned with her name.

• The National Fastpitch Coaches Association, in partnership with the Natasha Watley Foundation (NWF) and the Glasco Family, has created a Geri Ann Glasco Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship will be awarded to one female assistant coach in the first five years of her career at the collegiate level. Each year this scholarship will cover costs associated with attendance to the NFCA National Convention in December.
 
• WeCOACH, in partnership with NWF and the Glasco Family, also announced the creation of a Geri Ann Glasco Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship will be awarded to a female assistant coach in the first five years of her career at the NCAA level. Each year this scholarship will cover tuition and a travel stipend to attend WeCOACH's NCAA Women Coaches Academy.

• This season is the 20th season of Sun Belt softball. Sun Belt teams have combined for 33 postseason appearances (29 NCAA Division I Softball Championship and four National Invitation Softball Championship) in 19 seasons. Over that span, the conference has compiled 66 NCAA Tournament wins, seven NCAA Super Regional appearances, three NCAA Women's College World Series appearances and one NISC Championship Round appearance.

• The 2019 Sun Belt Softball Championship, hosted by Texas State, is set for May 8-11 at the Bobcat Softball Stadium in San Marcos, Texas.

COMMUNITY COFFEE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Alissa Dalton, Louisiana (Jr., SS, Cypress, Texas)
Louisiana junior shortstop Alissa Dalton hit .643 (9-for-14) and turned in four consecutive multiple-hit games for the Ragin' Cajuns. Dalton started with a three-hit effort vs. McNeese, then collected two hits each game of the three-game series at South Alabama on the way to a series-best six hits (6-for-9) on a series-best .667 batting average. She recorded a weeklong .706 on-base percentage, reaching base in 12 of 17 plate appearances. Dalton produced five RBI over the final two games against the Jaguars as Louisiana clinched the series and posted its third sweep in as many weeks. Her home run in Game 2 of the series, a three-run shot, broke a scoreless tie and jumpstarted the Cajuns' offense in the series clincher. Dalton accounted for at least two runs each outing of the series, increasing her week's total to seven.
 
COMMUNITY COFFEE PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Meagan King, Texas State (So., P, Mont Belvieu, Texas)
Texas State sophomore pitcher Meagan King picked up three victories in three appearances for the Bobcats. Two of King's wins came in complete-game, 2-0 shutouts over Incarnate Word and ULM. In 18.2 innings of work, she yielded one earned run, 10 hits and only one walk, while striking out 10 batters.
 
2019 Weekly Award Winners
Player
February 12: Raina O'Neal, Louisiana
February 19: Logan Harrell, Georgia Southern
February 26: Brittani Reid, South Alabama
March 5: Whitney Walton, UTA
March 12: Megan Walker, Appalachian State
March 19: Julie Rawls, Louisiana
March 26: Alissa Dalton, Louisiana
 
Pitcher
February 12: Kendra Lamb, Louisiana
February 19: Summer Ellyson, Louisiana
February 26: Kaitlin Beasley-Polko, Coastal Carolina
March 5: Kaitlin Beasley-Polko, Coastal Carolina
March 12: Summer Ellyson, Louisiana
March 19: Summer Ellyson, Louisiana
March 26: Meagan King, Texas State
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 27    
Winthrop at Coastal Carolina, 2 p.m.
Appalachian State at East Tennessee State, 4 p.m.
Georgia Southern at Georgia (SEC Network Plus), 5 p.m.
Georgia State at South Carolina (SEC Network Plus), 5 p.m.
North Alabama at Troy, 5 p.m.
Lamar at Texas State, 6 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at ULM, 6 p.m.
 
Friday, March 29  
*ULM at Coastal Carolina, 3 p.m.
*South Alabama at Appalachian State, 4 p.m.
*Louisiana at Georgia Southern (ESPN+), 5 p.m.
*UTA at Troy, 5 p.m.
*Georgia State at Texas State, 6 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 30
*South Alabama at Appalachian State, 1 p.m.
*ULM at Coastal Carolina, 1 p.m.
*Louisiana at Georgia Southern, 1 p.m.
*Georgia State at Texas State, 2 p.m.
*UTA at Troy, 2 p.m.
*ULM at Coastal Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
*UTA at Troy, 4:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 31
*Louisiana at Georgia Southern (ESPN+), 10 a.m.
*Georgia State at Texas State, 11 a.m.
*South Alabama at Appalachian State, Noon

*Sun Belt Conference contest
All Times are Central and Subject to Change