Special to the Advertiser

BOCA RATON, Fla. — The No. 6-ranked UL Ragin’ Cajuns softball team dominated play on and off the field throughout the 2012 college softball season and that was certainly reflected on the 2012 All-Sun Belt Conference team as voted on by the league’s nine head coaches.

Not only did the Cajuns bring home the four top individual awards, but also placed a total of eight players on the first or second team.

UL All-American rightfielder Christi Orgeron was honored as the conference’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Ashley Brignac was named as the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season and third time over.

Cajun freshman pitcher Jordan Wallace was recognized as the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. And the coaching team of Michael and Stefni Lotief were honored as the Coach of the Year.

Orgeron adds to her list of accolades on the year, including being named a finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year and a top 10 finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

Orgeron, who leads the nation in RBIs (89) for the second year in a row, was also named a USA Softball National Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 13-19 and was listed as an ESPN.com Preseason All-American.

The New Orleans native became the Sun Belt’s career leader in doubles (62) and RBIs (283) and tied an NCAA single-season record for grand slams with six.

Orgeron is ranked third in the nation in runs per game (1.29), seventh in home runs (20) and 12th in slugging percentage (.872).

She leads the conference in five categories — RBIs, home runs, slugging percentage, walks and total bases.

Brignac was the 2011 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year and sits third all-time in SBC history in career strikeouts (821).

The River Ridge native is third in both conference and UL history in victories with 91. She is third in the SBC in opposing batting average (.202), second in wins (20) and third in ERA (2.22).

Wallace registered 23 consecutive victories in the circle to set the best start by a freshman pitcher in NCAA history.

The Weatherford, Texas, native has received four Pitcher of the Week accolades from the Sun Belt and picked up wins over No. 24 Tulsa (19-4), No. 12 Michigan (10-7) and No. 5 Arizona State (9-2).

She hurled the 80th no-hitter in UL history against Louisiana Tech on Feb. 19 and recorded a career-high 16 strikeouts in a 10-inning, 1-0 win over South Alabama on April 6. Wallace ranks nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (4.44), and is first in the SBC in opposing batting average (.177) and second in ERA (2.15).

Four other Cajuns were also named to the All-SBC first team — junior first baseman Matte Haack, junior shortstop Nerissa Myers, sophomore third baseman Natalie Fernandez and senior outfielder Katie Smith.

The Lotiefs received the league’s Coach of the Year award. The pair guided the Cajuns to their 11th Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Championship and a No. 6 national ranking.