Softball: Six Cajuns Earn All-Sun Belt Honors

Six Cajuns Earn All-Sun Belt Honors

 

TROY, Ala. – Six Ragin’ Cajuns who helped Louisiana to it’s 15th straight season of 40 wins or more, have been named to the All-Sun Belt teams, including five named to the first team.  Matte Haack, Sarah Draheim, Brianna Cherry, Nerissa Myers and Jordan Wallace all picked up first team honors, and Shellie Landry was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team.

 

Myers and Draheim each picked up their third All-Sun Belt selections, Haack and Wallace were each named to their second, while Cherry and Landry each picked up the first of their careers. 

 

For Myers, Haack and Wallace it was their second first team selections, Draheim was twice named to All-Sun Belt second teams.

 

Haack, a senior from Katy, Texas, Haack batted .347 in the regular season with 11 home runs, 51 RBI and 41 runs scored.  She finished the season with one of the hottest bats on the team, batting .429 with 33 RBI and 19 runs scored in the team’s last 22 games. 

 

Draheim had the best offensive season of her career, batting and even .400 in the regular season with 13 home runs and 52 RBI.  She caught in every game of the season, starting all but one, and posted a .998 fielding percentage and allowed just eight passed balls. 

 

The senior from Flower Mound, Texas also led the team with 27 walks, reaching base over half the time with a .517 on-base percentage.

 

Myers led the Sun Belt with a .440 batting average and hit eight home runs, while driving in 36 and scoring 40 runs scored in just 33 games played.  The Petal, Miss native was the preseason selection for player of the year, but an ankle injury caused her to miss 18 games in the middle of the season.

 

Louisiana was an astonishing 31-2 when Myers was in the lineup.  In her first game back from her injury she led the game off with a home run, hit a double in her second at-bat, and then finished off the game with a grand slam.

 

Wallace had the highest strikeout per game rate in the Sun Belt and is currently fourth in the NCAA with an 11.0 strikeout/game average.  She fanned over 10 batters in a game 11 times en route to the fifth 300� strikeout season in Cajuns history.  She also threw her second career no-hitter, an eight-inning performance against FAU.

 

Cherry picked up her first All-Sun Belt honor and was a runner-up for the Sun Belt Player of the Year award.  The senior from Petal, Miss started every game in center field, batting .408 with 47 RBI and a team-high 57 runs scored and a career-high 12 home runs. 

 

Landry rounded out Louisiana’s All-Sun Belt roster and was the only freshman from UL to earn the honor.  Landry took no time acclimating to collegiate softball, leading the conference in both home runs and RBI, hitting 15 bombs and driving in 54 runs in her first season.  She became the 55th person in NCAA history to hit three home runs in one game, including two in the same inning.  

 

The Cajuns will start their postseason play tomorrow, Wednesday, May 8 at 3:00 P.M. when they take on Florida International in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship.  They finished the season 40-11, 19-4 in Sun Belt play, and are the number three seed in the tournament. 

 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:                  

Brittany Fowler, South Alabama

 

PITCHER OF THE YEAR:                

Emily Rousseau, WKU

 

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:          

Haley Fagan, South Alabama

 

COACH OF THE YEAR:                  

Tyra Perry, WKU

 

All-Conference First Team

Hannah Campbell, P, South Alabama

Emily Rousseau, P, Western Kentucky

Matte Haack, 1B, Louisiana

Olivia Watkins, 2B, Western Kentucky

Haley Fagan, 3B, South Alabama

Brittany Fowler, SS, South Alabama

Sarah Draheim, C, Louisiana

Brianna Cherry, OF, Louisiana

Blair Johnson, OF, South Alabama

Julie Moss, OF, South Alabama

Kacie McAllister, UT/DP, Troy

Nerissa Myers, At-Large, Louisiana

Jordan Wallace, At-Large, Louisiana

Kaitlyn Griffith, At-Large, South Alabama Kelsie Mattox, At-Large, Western Kentucky

 

All-Conference Second Team

Ashley Kirk, P, North Texas

Farish Beard, P, South Alabama

Caitlin Ortiz, 1B, Troy

Brie Rojas, 2B, FIU

Preslie Cruce, 3B, WKU

Amanda Thomas, SS, WKU

Hannah Renn, C, Troy

Lindsey Shell, OF, FAU

Nina Dever, OF, Middle Tennessee

Brittany Campbell, OF, South Alabama

Stephanie Call, UT/DP, FAU

Amber Curry, At-Large, FIU

Shellie Landry, At-Large, Louisiana

Brooke Foster, At-Large, North Texas

Taylor Schoblocher, At-Large, North Texas

 

 

 

Nick Ross

Sports Information Assistant

University of Louisiana-Lafayette

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