Softball: Why aren’t Cajuns hosting NCAA softball regional?

Nick Fontenot, Special to the Lafayette Advertiser, May 14, 2019

“Things just didn’t go right with our schedule and maybe I can learn from that,” Glasco said. “Maybe instead of 10 (out-of-conference games), I try to get 15 games.”

Glasco scheduled out-of-conference games against teams that perennially do well. He scheduled three games with Baylor, who had a down year at 18-31 and finished with an RPI at 58. Glasco said he thought California would finish in the Top 25, but they didn’t, finishing at 28-27 and an RPI of 64.

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UL’s head softball coach Gerry Glasco talks to his players outside of the dugout as the Ragin’ Cajuns take on Stephen F. Austin at Lamson Park on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019. (Photo: James Mays/Special to the Advertiser)

“It’s like buying stock in a business,” said Glasco. “I bought stock in the wrong schools this year. But honestly, I would do it all again. Baylor and Cal both have tremendous programs and it just didn’t work out this year.”

Glasco tried to call on his old SEC ties and schedule an SEC opponent, but a number of factors forced the schedule to be rushed, and those SEC schools didn’t come through. The biggest factor, however, was the poor performance of the Sun Belt Conference.

The Cajuns finish with an RPI of 17 after going undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play and winning the Sun Belt tournament. The next best RPI in the conference is Texas State at 62. Schools like ULM and Georgia State finished with RPIs well into the 200s, something that Glasco said needs to change if the Cajuns hope to host in the future.

“We need one or two Sun Belt teams to be in that top 50,” Glasco said. “Like last year, we had Texas State in the top 30. This year we got nothing from the conference. It’s important that we have the conference be competitive.”

Ultimately, Glasco said he knows he has to improve his scheduling tactics in order to get the Cajuns in the best position to host in the postseason.

“I have to schedule better next year and make some adjustments,” Glasco said. “You have a very fine window and very little room for error. Obviously, you don’t want to schedule 25 top 25 teams. We scheduled some teams that we thought would have a chance to be Top 25. They were all outside the top 50.”

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