22nd-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball plays its final non-conference game of the regular season on Wednesday facing McNeese in Lake Charles at Joe Miller Field at Cowgirl Diamond.
Both the Ragin’ Cajuns (28-11) and Cowgirls (30-15) are coming off conference series victories this past weekend. Louisiana claimed 2-of-3 meetings from Texas State in a matchup of the Sun Belt’s two nationally ranked squads.
Wednesday’s matchup is the lone meeting of the season between the two programs. The Ragin’ Cajuns won the last matchup, topping McNeese 6-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional last May.
Louisiana and McNeese last met in Lake Charles in February 2013.
Head coach Gerry Glasco’s squad has hit its stride offensively the past two weeks. After piling up 53 hits over a four-game stretch with Georgia State and Southeastern Louisiana, the Ragin’ Cajuns generated 27 hits – the most allowed by Texas State in a Sun Belt series – last weekend.
Fans can listen to the action on TalkRadio 960-AM in the Acadiana region and through the RadioPup app worldwide. Live stats and video will be available courtesy McNeeseSports.com.
SERIES HISTORY (Louisiana leads, 99-24)
• Second-oldest series in program history (123 meetings) trailing only ULM (132).
• Louisiana has won the last nine meetings, a streak which began Feb. 26, 2011 in Lake Charles.
• Since 1991, when UL led series 21-20, Cajuns have won 78 of 82 meetings to take command of the series (won 38 straight from 1994 to 2004).
QUICK HITS
• Louisiana is hitting .354 over the past seven games (dates back to Georgia State series). During the hot streak, Kara Gremillion (.542), Alissa Dalton (.448), Kourtney Gremillion (.423) and Lexie Comeaux (.409) are all hitting above .400.
• Alissa Dalton carries her season-and career-best hitting streak of 12 games into Wednesday’s outing. During the streak, which began March 30 vs. South Alabama, Dalton is batting .477 (21-of-44).
• Summer Ellyson has yielded no more than three earned runs in 17 of her 20 starts. She’s also turned in 15 outings with five-plus strikeouts, nine of those coming in the past 10 outings.
• Since returning to full-time work on April 4 after resting from arm soreness, Kylee Jo Trahan has worked 19-1/3 innings and yielded just three runs (two earned) and 14 hits.
• Kourtney Gremillion picked up her first career Sun Belt Player of the Week award on Tuesday. Gremillion hit .615, had three multiple-hit games and posted four run-scoring hits which led to six RBI during the four-game week against Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State.
• With one more RBI, Kourtney Gremillion will become the fifth Ragin’ Cajun to reach 20 RBI this season. Louisiana’s RBI figures are spread even with nine individuals having totals ranging from seven up to 25.
• The Louisiana-McNeese matchup features siblings in opposing dugouts. Sisters Casidy Chaumont (Louisiana) and Carleigh Chaumont (McNeese) are set to compete against one another at the collegiate level for the very first time.
• The Ragin’ Cajuns own 12 come-from-behind wins this season, the last coming last Wednesday at Southeastern Louisiana after the Lions plated two runs in the first inning.
• Ragin’ Cajuns hitters have made opposing pitchers and defenses work for their outs. The squad has 24 outings of three strikeouts or less through 39 games played.
• Ragin’ Cajuns pitchers have limited the opposition to a .191 batting average. Summer Ellyson and Kylee Jo Trahan teamed up to hold No. 24 Texas State to 14 hits and a .179 average last weekend.
• The 5-3 putout is a unique one for Louisiana as it pairs sisters Kara Gremillion (third base) and Kourtney Gremillion (first base). The siblings are one the playing field together for the first time since Spring 2015 at St. Amant High School.
UP NEXT
No. 22 Louisiana returns to Lamson Park for a Sun Belt Conference series with Georgia Southern set for Saturday-Sunday, April 21-22. The Ragin’ Cajuns and Eagles are scheduled to play a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and 11 a.m. single game on Sunday.