March 1, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a weekend in the Peach State which saw the University of Kentucky softball team win three of four games at the Georgia Southern Invitational, the Wildcats will head to Lafayette, La., to take part in the Ragin’ Cajun Invitational which will serve as the final series of the squad’s 18-game road streak.
Kentucky (7-6) took the win in three of four games over the weekend, defeating North Florida, Jacksonville State and Radford in three consecutive games before falling to Georgia Southern 2-1 in a pitchers dual on Saturday afternoon. Junior Kara Dill continued her hot hitting with a .600 batting clip in the four-game tournament. Dill also logged multi-hit outings in three of UK’s four games including a pair of games with three hits. Freshman Griffin Joiner also boasted a terrific weekend at the plate with a .417 average. She smacked the game-tying RBI single in the top of the seventh to force extra innings against the host Eagles.
Senior Chanda Bell totaled two wins at the tournament to run her career win total to 55 games. That mark is the new standard in school allure. Classmate Rachel Riley was the other pitcher to notch a win in the circle in a complete-game effort against North Florida.
This weekend, Kentucky will take on Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Stephen F. Austin, Nicholls State and the host Louisiana-Lafayette Rajin’ Cajuns who are currently ranked No. 12 in the nation.
The Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders enter this weekend’s tournament with a 2-7 record overall. The Islanders are coming off of a win vs. the Ole Miss Rebels in the Best Western Marina Grand Islanders Classic, which they hosted last week. The Islanders also have a win over North Texas in this young 2012 season.
Stephen F. Austin enters this weekend’s tournament with a 5-10 overall record. The Jacks are fresh off an 8-6 win over UTEP in the final game of last weekend’s 2012 Texas Shootout. SFA has suffered two tough losses in the young season in extra innings to Florida State in the season opener, and vs. Texas Tech last weekend.
Louisiana-Lafayette enters this weekend as the host team for the 2012 Rajun’ Caujun Invite. They are ranked No. 12 in both major softball polls, and have not dropped a game so far this season. Lafayette is led by co-head coaches Michael and Stefni Lotief, who are in their ninth year at the helm.
NSU enters this weekend’s tourney with a 4-11 record with quality wins over Akron, Louisiana Tech, Alcorn State and Jackson State. NSU has played two extra-inning games this season, including a 10-inning contest that NSU lost 7-4 to Eastern Kentucky back on Feb. 17 in the Quality Inn Classic.
Follow along with the UK softball program all season long at UKathletics.com.
