Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
#15 Louisiana-Lafayette
Blue Raiders Look to Spice-Up Cajuns
3/6/2007 1:08:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Streaks are made to be broken and Middle Tennessee softball is looking to break a long one on Wednesday, when the club opens Sun Belt Conference play at No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette (20-4).
The Blue Raiders have never defeated the Ragin Cajuns and are 0-27 against ULL. The closes a Middle Tennessee team got to beating Louisiana-Lafayette was on March 31, 2001 when the club lost 4-3. The game was tied, 3-3, in the seventh inning and the Ragin Cajuns scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Middle Tennessee, who is currently 9-12, is entering the contest with a lot of confidence. The Blue Raiders went 3-3 at the Buzz Classic and went down to the wire with No. 21 Georgia Tech, with the game tied at six heading into the seventh inning, before falling to the Yellow Jackets 8-6.
Freshman hurler Lindsey Vander Lugt seems to be peaking at just the right time as she was the pitcher of record in all three Blue Raider wins at the Buzz Classic. The lefty was rewarded for her stellar performance with Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week honors after tossing two shutouts, including a one-hitter against Morehead State, and fanning 27 batters. For the season, Vander Lugt is 6-8 with a 4.06 ERA in 19 appearances, with 56 strikeouts in 89.2 innings pitched.
Middle Tennessee is led at the plate by junior Whitney Darlington who has a .370 batting average, has 20 hits, knocked in 16 RBI and scored 13 runs. Sophomore Martha Davis is a close second with a .368 batting average with a team-leading 21 hits and is tied with junior Katie Mielke for doubles with six.
The Blue Raiders have also proved to be speedy on the base paths. The club has swiped 44 stolen bases this season and has a goal of 100 for the season. Individually, junior Ashley Cline tops the team with 13 stolen bases while senior Shelby Stiner is a close second with nine.
Louisiana-Lafayette's Codi Runyon is the only Ragin Cajun who has better average then the top Blue Raider players. She is hitting .403 with 29 hits, 23 runs scored and 29 RBI.
The Ragin Cajuns are hitting .286 as a team while the Blue Raiders are close behind with .282. ULL is allowing opponents to hit .205 and Middle Tennessee is allowing their opponents Lafayette's average.
The early match-up between the two teams allows both clubs to gauge where they are in the conference and where they need to be. Middle Tennessee is hoping it can leave Cajun country on top.
