2018 Sun Belt Softball Weekly News and Notes:
Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Championship Information

#FUNBELT FACTS
• Sun Belt softball moves into the month of April with 28 games on the schedule this week.
 
• In the most recent NCAA RPI through the games of April 1, the Sun Belt boasted six teams in the top 100 – Louisiana (21st), Texas State (30th), South Alabama (48th), Georgia Southern (53rd), Georgia State (75th) and UTA (93rd). As a conference, the Sun Belt enters the week ranked seventh.
 
• Louisiana (23-7, 10-2 Sun Belt) is 19th and Texas State (25-8, 8-0) is 25th in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Poll. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 18th and the Bobcats are receiving votes in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll.

• League leaders Texas State and Louisiana, along with UTA (17-16, 7-4), each enter the week on three-game winning streaks.

• ULM (18-13, 6-6) rolls into the week as the Sun Belt’s hottest team, having won six in a row. The Warhawks rank sixth in scoring (6.87 runs per game) and eighth in batting average (.329) among all NCAA Division I teams entering the week.
 
• Also on the offensive side, Coastal Carolina (17-20, 2-10) is second in the nation in home runs per game (1.41). Defensively, UTA is fifth in double plays per game (0.58) and Troy (19-16, 5-7) is fifth in fielding percentage (.980).

• Among the NCAA Division I active career leaders entering the week, Georgia State senior catcher/first base Ivie Drake is fifth in total bases (492), sixth in hits (262) and eighth in RBI (196), Texas State senior pitcher Randi Rupp is first in pitching appearances (166), games started (141) and innings pitched (927.7), second in wins (95), shutouts (38), strikeouts (1,153) and third in complete games (93) and South Alabama senior pitcher Devin Brown is sixth in strikeouts per seven innings (9.32), tied for seventh in shutouts (29) and sixth in strikeouts (837).
 
• Rupp enters the week as the Division I leader in strikeouts with 200. Her strikeout-to-walk ratio of 9.09 ranks seventh in the nation.
 
• The Sun Belt trio of Drake, Rupp and Brown are three of the 30 initial candidates for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award for softball. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 Women’s College World Series®.

• The 2018 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship is set for May 9-12 at Alfred and Helen Lamson Park on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

COMMUNITY COFFEE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ivie Drake, Georgia State (Sr., C/1B, Carlton, Ga.)
Georgia State catcher/first base Ivie Drake put together an impressive week, going 6-for-14 (.429) with zero strikeouts, three walks, four home runs, five runs scored and seven RBI. In the series against Troy, Drake slugged a remarkable 1.800. She started the weekend off with a solo home run in Game 1. Drake then walked off the Trojans with a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Panthers the win in Game 2. The Carlton, Ga., native led off Game 3 with a solo home run and then added a grand slam in the bottom of the second inning. Her run scored on the grand slam broke the school record for career runs scored as she crossed the plate for her 191st run. Defensively, Drake recorded 19 putouts and an assist for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. She also caught a runner stealing on the base paths.

COMMUNITY COFFEE PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Randi Rupp, Texas State (Sr., P, Mont Belvieu, Texas)
Texas State senior pitcher Randi Rupp pitched in all three games of the weekend sweep of Georgia Southern, including two dominating starts. Rupp hurled 14.1 innings of work, allowing just one run on five hits and striking out 30 batters (14.65 per seven innings) while not issuing a single walk. In Game 1, Rupp went the distance, pitching seven innings of one-hit softball. Rupp struck out 14 batters without surrendering a walk. In Game 3, the Mont Belvieu, Texas, native earned a complete game shutout and matched a career-high with 15 strikeouts.
 
2018 Weekly Awards Archive
Player
Feb. 13: Sydney McKay, ULM
Feb. 20: Hailey MacKay, Texas State
Feb. 26: Courtney Dean, Coastal Carolina and Hunter Hogan, ULM
Mar. 06: Reagan Morgan, Georgia State
Mar. 13: Ariel Ortiz, Texas State
Mar. 20: Logan Harrell, Georgia Southern
Mar. 27: Kamdyn Kvistad, South Alabama
 
Pitcher
Feb. 13: Kylee Jo Trahan, Louisiana
Feb. 20: Summer Ellyson, Louisiana
Feb. 26: Randi Rupp, Texas State
Mar. 06: Annie Willis, Troy
Mar. 13: Devin Brown, South Alabama
Mar. 20: Randi Rupp, Texas State
Mar. 27: Alexis Reid, South Alabama
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, April 3
UTA at Houston Baptist, 3:00 PM
Western Carolina at Appalachian State, 3:00 PM
Western Carolina at Appalachian State, 5:00 PM
Southern Miss at South Alabama, 6:00 PM
Southeastern Louisiana at ULM, 6:00 PM

Wednesday, April 4    
Louisiana at Florida State, 3:00 PM
Duke at Coastal Carolina, 4:00 PM
Mercer at Georgia State, 4:00 PM
Alcorn State at ULM, 4:00 PM
Florida A&M at Troy, 4:00 PM
Georgia Southern at South Carolina (TV: SEC Network Plus), 5:00 PM
Louisiana at Florida State, 5:00 PM
Florida A&M at Troy, 6:00 PM
Alcorn State at ULM, 6:00 PM
Lamar at Texas State, 6:30 PM

Friday, April 6
*Troy at Appalachian State, 2:30 PM
*Troy at Appalachian State, 4:30 PM

Saturday, April 7
*Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina, 9:00 AM
*Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina, 11:30 AM
*Louisiana at Georgia State, Noon
*Troy at Appalachian State, Noon
*South Alabama at Texas State, 1:00 PM
*UTA at ULM, 1:00 PM
*Louisiana at Georgia State, Noon
*UTA at ULM, 3:00 PM
*South Alabama at Texas State, 3:00 PM

Sunday, April 8
*Louisiana at Georgia State, 11:00 AM
*Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina, Noon
*South Alabama at Texas State, Noon
*UTA at ULM, Noon

* - Sun Belt Conference game