UL Softball Preview: Missouri St.

The 6th-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun softball team will take on the Missouri St. Bears in one of their five games in the the Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational this weekend at Lamson Park.

Louisiana will face Missouri St. on Saturday at 3 o'clock, in their fourth game of the tournament.

Missouri St., members of the Missouri Valley Conference, is currently 6-4 on the young season, with wins over Abilene Christian, ULM, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Louisiana Tech, and Eastern Michigan (twice), and losses to SIUE, Texas A&M, and Penn St. (twice), after going 28-27 in 2014.

Offensively, the Bears are hitting a .260, along with 9 home runs, 35 runs batted in, and nine stolen bases, after hitting a .266 with 22 homers, 198 RBI’s, and 67 steals in 85 attempts last season.

At the plate, Missouri St. is led by senior left-fielder Rebecca McPherson, who is hitting a .423 with two homers and four RBI's, after hitting a .236 in 2014, along with one home run and nine runs batted in, and senior right-fielder Ali Trickey, who is currently batting a .400.

In the circle, the Bears feature sophomore right-hander Erin Struemph, who is currently 1-1 with a 1.94 ERA., along with 22 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched, one season after finishing 13-12 with a 3.35 ERA. in 2014.

Pitching-wise, Missouri St. has an overall combined team ERA. of 2.28, after compiling an overall team ERA. of 3.75 a season ago.

The Cajuns will play Iowa on Friday at 2:30 pm, before taking on Hofstra at 5 o’clock.

On Saturday, Louisiana plays twice more, facing Hofstra at 12:30 pm, before taking on Missouri St. at 3 o’clock.

UL wraps-up play in the tournament on Sunday at 2:30 pm, when they face McNeese St.

You can hear all the play-by-play action on Sports Radio ESPN 1420, and espn1420.com, beginning with the pre-game show 15 minutes prior to first-pitch for each game.