LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball freshman Lauren Allred hit .429, slugged three home runs and drove in at least one run each game as Louisiana won its last home midweek game and claimed a Sun Belt series victory at Troy, earning her the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week award on Tuesday, April 25.
Allred (Texarkana, Texas/Texas HS) finished with a team-leading seven (7) RBI for the week and posted the three home runs in the Cajuns two wins that overcame a series deficit at Troy.
Her week-long OPS was 1.538 and the RBI total pushed her to a season overall team-best 37 RBI and into second place in conference play (21 RBI).
Allred broke open the midweek win over SLU with a clutch two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning that created a 4-0 edge and on Sunday in Troy started off a string of six unanswered runs early in the series clincher with a two-run home run that ended a scoreless affair in the second inning.
She homered in her next at bat of the Troy finale, posting the first multiple-home run game of her young collegiate career.
Allred, an emerging impact player for Louisiana with eight home runs and 34 RBI since March 1, collected her first career SBC Player of the Week award.
The Ragin' Cajuns have now claimed six weekly awards from the Sun Belt in the 2023 season, Tuesday's honor adding to the SBC Pitcher of the Week awards claimed by Sam Landry (Feb. 14) and Meghan Schorman (Feb. 28) in February, Karly Heath's SBC Player of the Week honor (Mar. 21) in March and Landry and Laney Credeur’s sweep of the awards on April 11.
Louisiana, which has received at least one SBC Player or Pitcher of the Week award since the inception of the league in 2000, now owns 98 Sun Belt Player of the Week awards in program history.
Allred’s rookie campaign, which has skyrocketed since she broke into the lineup in early March, has seen her generate the team-leading 37 RBI in only 88 official at bats.
The Ragin’ Cajuns first baseman is batting .375 with 15 total extra base hits (3 doubles, 3 triples, 9 home runs) and ranks as one of the Top 75 toughest to strikeout in the nation with only five strikeouts in 105 plate appearances.
No. 25 Louisiana (36-13, 16-2 SBC) returns to the road and closes out the month of April in Conway, South Carolina from Friday-Sunday, April 28-30 with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Coastal Carolina at St. John Stadium.
The matchup with the Chanticleers marks the final road games in conference play this spring. Start times are set for 5:00 p.m. (CDT) on Friday, 1:00 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday and 11:00 a.m. (CDT) on Sunday with all games airing on ESPN+.
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