2019 Sun Belt Softball Weekly News and Notes:
Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Championship | Records Book
 
AROUND #SUNBELTSB
• Sun Belt softball hits the home stretch of the regular-season schedule with 26 games over the next seven days.
 
• Louisiana (42-4, 21-0 Sun Belt) moves up to eighth in both the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls this week, marking the Ragin' Cajuns' highest ranking this season.
 
• Louisiana owns the fourth-best record in NCAA Division I, behind Oklahoma (41-2), UCLA (40-2), and Alabama (45-4). The Ragin' Cajuns' 19 wins in a row tie for the fourth-longest winning streak in the country with Drake and sit behind Oklahoma (31), North Dakota State (23) and Arizona (20).
 
• In the latest NCAA Division I Softball RPI, the Sun Belt has five teams in the top 100 – Louisiana (20th), Troy (53rd), Texas State (63rd), UTA (71st) and Appalachian State (89th). The Sun Belt ranks eighth as a conference behind the SEC, Pac-12, Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, American and Mountain West.
 
• Louisiana has secured at least a share of the Sun Belt regular-season title and the top seed for the upcoming Sun Belt Softball Championship with two conference weekends remaining. The Ragin' Cajuns are ahead six games in the loss column with six conference games to go. Troy (34-15, 16-6) is the only team that could earn a share of the regular-season title. The Trojans have five conference games remaining, closing the regular season with a three-game series at Texas State (25-19, 13-7) and a two-game set at home against in-state rival South Alabama (15-28, 5-17). Louisiana took all three games against Troy on March 15-17.
 
• The Sun Belt continues to be home to three of the nation's top pitchers in terms of victories this season. Louisiana junior Summer Ellyson continues to lead Division I with 29 wins. Troy freshman Leanna Johnson is tied for fourth with 23 and Coastal Carolina sophomore Kaitlin Beasley-Polko is tied for 11th with 21.
 
• Ellyson is also among the nation's top 10 pitchers in three other categories – fourth in strikeouts (258), sixth in earned-run average (1.06) and seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.62).
 
• Johnson is only 17 pitchers in the country with 200 or more strikeouts this season. She enters the week with 200 strikeouts to her credit.
 
• Louisiana senior outfielder Keeli Milligan is now the school's single-season steals leader with 54. Milligan set the record with her 52nd stolen base on April 19 against Georgia State, eclipsing the previous mark of 51 recorded by Dorsey Steamer back in 1992. She enters the week two stolen bases shy of passing the Sun Belt's single-season record of 55 by WKU's Olivia Watkins in 2014. Among active Division I players, the Texas A&M transfer is second in career stolen bases with 159.
 
• Milligan was the only Sun Belt player selected in the 2019 National Pro Fastpitch College Draft on April 15. She was the 25th pick overall, going in the fifth round to the defending Cowles Cup champion USSSA Pride of Viera, Fla. Milligan became the 11th player in conference history to be drafted by an NPF team.
 
• ULM senior outfielder Sydney McKay is second among active Division I players in career at-bats (736).
 
• The Ragin' Cajuns' 21-0 start in Sun Belt play eclipses the previous record of 18-0 achieved twice by Louisiana in 2001 and 2004.
 
• Troy has won five-consecutive conference series for the first time in program history.
 
• Texas State (25-19, 13-7) went 5-2 over its last seven games on the road. Sophomore first base ArieAnn Bell enters the week having reached base in her last 19-straight games. During this streak, Bell is hitting .341 (15-for-44) with 17 walks, three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI. She ranks ninth in the Sun Belt with eight home runs.
 
• After going a stretch of 10 games without hitting a home run, UTA (24-23, 12-9) has hit five homers in its last six games.
 
• Coastal Carolina (32-15, 11-10) boasts the Sun Belt's top two home run hitters this season – junior first base Kassidy Smith with 13 and sophomore outfielder Courtney Dean with 12.

• 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. All-session and single-day tickets are available to purchase online at SunBelt.me/SB19Tickets.

COMMUNITY COFFEE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Victoria Ortiz, South Alabama (Fr., OF, Mobile, Ala.)
South Alabama freshman outfielder Victoria Ortiz continued her hot hitting, going 7-for-11 (.636) with five RBI, six runs scored, 19 total bases and a 1.727 slugging percentage in the three-game series at ULM. Six of Ortiz' seven hits were for extra bases – three doubles and three home runs. She got her series off to a hot start in the opener with two hits in four at-bats to go along with two runs scored and two RBI. Her two-run home run in the second inning of the opening game capped off a seven-run inning for the Jaguars. Ortiz was 1-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI in Game 2. Her second-inning, bases-loaded walk broke a 1-1 tie and was part of a seven-run inning for South Alabama. In the series finale, Ortiz was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBI. Three of her four hits in that contest went for extra bases as she picked up her 14th double and her fifth and sixth home runs of the season. Both of her home runs led off an inning. Ortiz became the 17th player in program history to record multiple home runs in the same outing. She has now homered in three of her last four games dating back to April 12-13. The 14 doubles by Ortiz tie the school's single-season freshman record also held by Blair Johnson in 2012.
 
COMMUNITY COFFEE PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Summer Ellyson, Louisiana (Jr., P, Lafayette, La.)
Louisiana junior pitcher Summer Ellyson averaged over two strikeouts per inning over four starts, tallying at least seven Ks each time out and reaching double digits twice, in guiding the Ragin' Cajuns to an undefeated week. Ellyson went 4-0 with a 0.78 earned-run average and piled up 38 strikeouts in 18 innings in the circle. Both of her double-digit strikeout totals came in only five innings of work – 12 at UNC Greensboro and 11 in Game 1 of the Georgia State series. She yielded only two earned runs for the week and claimed all three wins in a Sun Belt series for the third time this season. Ellyson recorded strikeouts against the first eight UNCG batters she faced. She recorded multiple strikeouts in nine of 13 innings pitched against Georgia State, fanning the Panthers 26 times over three games. Ellyson enters the week with 501 career strikeouts.
 
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
April 2: Kassidy Smith, Coastal Carolina
April 9: Kassidy Smith, Coastal Carolina
April 16: Alissa Dalton, Louisiana
April 23: Victoria Ortiz, South Alabama
 
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
April 2: Leanna Johnson, Troy
April 9: Summer Ellyson, Louisiana
April 16: Summer Ellyson, Louisiana
April 23: Summer Ellyson, Louisiana
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, April 23   
Appalachian State at Western Carolina, 1 p.m.
Appalachian State at Western Carolina, 3 p.m.
Coastal Carolina at College of Charleston, 4 p.m.
Houston at Texas State, 5:30 p.m.
ULM at LSU (SEC Network Plus), 6 p.m.
 
Wednesday, April 24    
Kennesaw State at Georgia Southern, 4 p.m.
Troy at Florida State, 4 p.m.
Georgia State at Georgia, 5 p.m.
Louisiana at Louisiana Tech, 6 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin at ULM, 6 p.m.
McNeese at South Alabama, 6 p.m.
 
Friday, April 26  
*ULM at Georgia State, 4 p.m.
*Coastal Carolina at Louisiana (ESPN+), 6 p.m.
*Georgia Southern at South Alabama, 6 p.m.
*Troy at Texas State, 6 p.m.
 
Saturday, April 27
*UTA at Appalachian State, Noon
*ULM at Georgia State, Noon
*UTA at Appalachian State, 1 p.m.
*Coastal Carolina at Louisiana, 2 p.m.
*Troy at Texas State, 2 p.m.
*Georgia Southern at South Alabama, 3 p.m.
 
Sunday, April 28
*UTA at Appalachian State, 11 a.m.
*Coastal Carolina at Louisiana, Noon
*Georgia Southern at South Alabama, Noon
*ULM at Georgia State, Noon
*Troy at Texas State, Noon
 
*Sun Belt Conference contest
All Times are Central and Subject to Change