Who Is The Best Team UL Softball Will Face This Weekend?

Who is the best team the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns will face this weekend?

18th-ranked Louisiana will be in Fullerton, California to take part in the Judi Garman Classic.

The Cajuns will play five games over a three-day timespan, facing Michigan on Friday (2 pm), Iowa (7:30 pm) and Michigan St. (10 pm) on Saturday, and Fresno St. (1:30 pm) and Baylor (4 pm) on Sunday.

All games can be heard on Sports Radio ESPN 1420 & espn1420.com.

Baylor is the best team that Louisiana will face this weekend.

The Bears are 9-0, and ranked #9 in the country.

When you're talking about Baylor, you're normally talking about pitching, and that is the case once again this year.

The Bears feature junior right-hander Gia Rodoni, who is 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA., along with an outstanding defense to back her up.

Baylor doesn't hit for power, with only two homers over their first 9 games, but they make up for it by getting on base, as they've accumulated an impressive .472 team on-base-percentage.

Runs will be hard to come by for UL, or anyone else playing against Baylor this weekend.

I'd rank Michigan as the second-best team Louisiana will face this weekend.

The Wolverines are only 9-6, but have played  tough schedule, including the likes of Florida, Florida St., Virginia Tech, Texas, and South Florida.

Michigan has one of the top pitchers in the nation, in freshman left-hander Meghan Beaubien, who is currently 8-2, to go along with a 0.70 ERA.

Something to think about though; Michigan plays on the first day of the tournament on Thursday, and will play Baylor right before they take on the Cajuns, so they'll play three games before UL even plays one.

That means Beaubien, who likely will pitch against Baylor, will not be as fresh, which may give the Cajuns, who will face her, or Michigan's #2, who will likely also pitch the day before, an advantage.

I'd rank Michigan St. as the third-best team Louisiana will face this weekend.

The Spartans are only 8-6, but have won 6-straight, and have improved greatly since their 2-6 start.

Michigan St. doesn't do anything great, but they don't do anything poorly either, so the Cajuns will have to play well to beat them, because they aren't likely to beat themselves.

Pitcher Kristina Zalewski is off to a great start in the circle for the Spartans, as she is 3-3 with a 0.93 ERA., but she will be facing much better competition this weekend.

I'd say Fresno St. is the fourth-best team UL will face this weekend.

The Bulldogs are only 7-8, but have played an incredibly tough schedule, losing to Oregon, Arizona, LSU, UCLA, and BYU.

Fresno St. may be the best offensive team that the Cajuns will face this weekend, with 18 homers against very good pitching, but they've had pitching issues, sporting a 5.05 team ERA. so far.

If the Bulldogs get pitching, they could be dangerous.

I'd rank Iowa as the fifth-best team Louisiana will play this weekend.

UL has already played them, defeating the Hawkeyes, 9-0, on opening weekend in the Mardi Gras Classic.

Iowa is 4-5 on the season, but has won three of their last five, including a close 3-2 loss to Texas A&M, so they're playing better.

The bottom line is the Cajuns will have to play well to win any game this weekend.

I hate to sound like a coach, because I'm far from one, but Louisiana can beat anybody this weekend, and they can also lose to anybody.

A 3-2 weekend would be okay, while a 4-1 weekend would be really good, and a 5-0 weekend would be cause for celebration.

No wins will come easy however, as UL will be facing quality competition in every contest.