The competitive history between UL and Houston provides enough of a reason to follow what happens when the two teams face off at 4 p.m. Friday in the opening game of the NCAA Austin Regional.

Some of the additional subplots only add to the intrigue between the 25th-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns (49-9) and Houston (40-16).

Going into the postseason the Cajuns hold a 12-4 all-time record against Houston, winning six of the past seven matchups.

Three years ago the Cajuns beat the Cougars twice in a best-of-three Super Regional for a berth in the Women’s College World Series. In October the Cajuns played Houston in a fall scrimmage and rallied for a 7-5 win on Sarah Draheim’s two-run homer in the seventh inning.

Off the field, Cajuns co-head coach Stefni Lotief and Cougars coach Kyla (Hall) Holas are former All-America pitchers for the Cajuns. Plus, pitcher Donna Bourgeois — a Teurlings Catholic graduate — played three years for the Cajuns before transferring to Houston in January for her senior season.

Instead of focusing on those storylines, Lotief has asked for people to pay more attention to what the two teams have done on the diamond.

Riding an 11-game winning streak, the Cajuns recently won the Sun Belt regular-season and conference tournament championships. Houston shared the Conference USA regular-season crown this year with Tulsa and have 10 wins over top-25 opponents.

"When you get into the postseason there will be subplots and stories here and there and things that come up," Lotief said. "I think the biggest thing is the celebration of this team and what they’ve been able to accomplish this year with the adversity, injuries and ups and downs that come in a season.

"They’ve been steady and dedicated since August and haven’t let anything get in their way."

University of Houston spokesman Alissa Bauer said Monday that Bourgeois would not be made available for comment on the upcoming series.

This season Bourgeois was Conference USA’s Newcomer of the Year after going 16-6 with a 1.68 ERA in 28 games. Houston’s top arm is senior Amanda Crabtree, who has an 18-8 record and 0.94 ERA with 314 strikeouts in 179.1 innings in 34 games this season.

In three years with the Cajuns, Bourgeois posted a combined 69-24 mark and was a three-time all-conference selection and two-time LSWA All-Louisiana Pitcher of the Year. Last year she went 23-10 with a 2.01 ERA and 31 complete games and was first-team all-conference, second-team all-region, Sun Belt tournament MVP and LSWA All-Louisiana Pitcher of the Year for a Super Regional squad.

Bourgeois has declined to publicly comment on why she left the Cajuns and ultimately landed in Houston.

Holas, a three-time All-American who played for the Cajuns from 1991-94, shared her view of Friday’s game against her alma mater on Monday.

"We play them year-in and year-out, and we’re very clear on how good of a ballclub they are," Holas said. "We even had the chance to see them this fall. We know it will take our best game against them, or any opponent we face at this point in the season, to win."

Holas said Monday that she was still trying to decide on her rotation for the upcoming regional. The Cajuns are led pitching-wise by redshirt junior Ashley Brignac, who is 30-5 with a 1.24 ERA this year after sitting out last season following shoulder surgery.

Crabtree and Bourgeois have helped the Cougars post the nation’s top ERA (1.28) this season. That duo will now try to slow down a Cajuns offense that leads the country in runs scored per game (7.91) and is ninth in team batting average (.333).

"I think Donna is an asset to any program," Holas said. "We consider ourselves lucky to have her for her senior year and are very happy with the contributions she has brought to our team this season."

Meanwhile, Lotief is eager for Friday’s game to finally get here.

"There will be a lot of hype around the game and maybe some issues that will come up," she said. "But I think by and large if we take care of the bat and the ball we’ll have a good chance."