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Softball: Perfect fit – Matte Haack – right decision at the timeKevin Foote, Daily Advertiser, March 6, 2012 When Matte Haack made the decision to transfer from Arizona to the UL Ragin’ Cajun softball team, she obviously thought it was the right decision for her to make at the time. In her short time in Lafayette since her arrival, it’s been better than she ever imagined. Better for her and for the 17-0 Ragin’ Cajuns, said UL co-head coach Michael Lotief. "When I got here, I didn’t know how I would fit in, but we’re all sisters on this team," Haack said. "We’re definitely a family. Every day is exciting to go out there. "When I came here and talked to coach Stef and coach Mike and heard their vision for this program, I knew there was something special here. I’m so thankful that I got a chance to be a part of this." While those are big-picture team thoughts, it’s never as much fun when you’re not playing well. After one subpar weekend, Haack has been on fire for the No. 12-ranked Cajuns. She’s coming off an MVP weekend in which she hit .563 with four doubles, two homers and nine RBIs. UL will find out today if it jumps any in the two major national polls. Haack and the Cajuns will then travel to meet Houston in a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday. "It’s definitely a different style here and a different swing," she said. "If you stick with the process every day, you’re going to have success." Haack explained that the differences are both mental and physical. Mental in terms of different approaches based on the count and physical as far as the actual swing. "The adjustments were more harsher for her than for us, but she never questioned anything," Lotief said. "She came in with an open mind. When she went through struggles (learning new system), she never point fingers at anyone and she never questioned why. She just kept working. Matte’s made us all better." Apparently, Haack has learned quite well. For the season, Haack is hitting .407 with seven doubles, a triple, four homers and 29 RBIs. "Matte has incredible high-eye coordination," Lotief said. "Her pitch recognition is phenomenal. A pitch can be two or three inches off the plate and she knows it. She sees the ball incredibly. "She’s very strong and she’s very competitive. She’s loves that one-on-one competition between the pitcher and the hitter." Lotief said that most of the pitches she was hitting hard early on were going foul, so she had to make an adjustment. "It was just trial and error," Lotief said. "It’s her taking 300 swings a day. Recognizing the problem is the easy part. It’s the players who have to fix it. It’s the players that have to make the necessary adjustments to fix it. She didn’t want to leave the field until she had made progress." Myers receives SBC honorUL’s Nerissa Myers and North Texas’ Caitlin Grimes shared Sun Belt Conference Softball Players of the Week honors as announced by the conference office on Monday. ![]()
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