DJ Sanders let the softball world know just how much power she had last week, and her display earned her Sun Belt Student Athlete of the Week.

The Ragin' Cajuns' sophomore shortstop clubbed four home runs in the weekend series against Southern Miss, and she picked up seven RBI's and scored eight runs in Hattiesburg too. Her defensive prowess as a freshman earned her preseason All-Sun Belt honors, but not too many people saw these offensive fireworks coming her second year.

This year is a pleasant surprise for the fans, but Head Coach Michael Lotief knew Sanders had some special power hidden in her bat.

"She had it before this weekend, she just showed it off," Lotief said with a smile. "Kudos to my seniors for bringing that kid along and the lessons they taught her."

Sanders is essentially a second cleanup hitter in the Cajun lineup. She's one of the reasons why Lotief's lineup is hanging silly numbers on the board week in and week out. Only 18 games into the season, she's already setting a new career high offensively.

All last season, she collected four homes runs and 27 RBI's. She clocked four over the wall in Hattiesburg alone, and she has seven already this season. She's only five RBI's away from breaking her previous season total, and at this pace, she'll get that done in no time at all. Her batting average is almost ninety percentage points higher (.388). Her slugging percentage is more than double what it was last year. All the numbers prove the same point: she's having a spectacular year.

With Lexie Elkins, Shellie Landry, Kelsey Vincent and Hayley Hayden clubbing opposing pitchers on a regular basis, it's a sign of Sanders' talent that she stole their spotlight in a monstrous offensive road series out of conference.

The Ragin' Cajuns sit at 17-1 early in the season, but the conference slate starts this week. If Sanders keeps swinging the bat like this, this lineup could get even scarier.

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