UL Softball Preview: Rutgers

The 22nd-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajun softball team will take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday, in their final game in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida.

The Louisiana/Rutgers match-up will take place on Sunday at 10 am (cdt).

Rutgers, members of the American Athletic Conference, is 3-2 on the season, with wins over Wichita St., UTSA, and Colorado St., with losses to Colorado St. and Oregon St.

Offensively, the Scarlet Knight are hitting a .338, with five home runs and 25 RBI's, along with six stolen bases.

Senior outfielder Loren Williams leads the way for Rutgers, hitting an eye-popping .684 (13-for-19) with a home run and four RBI's, after leading the team last year, hitting a .315 with six homers, 29 RBI's, and 18 stolen bases.

The Scarlet Knight hit only 28 homers as a team last year, but they do have a group of solid line drive hitters who are more than capable of driving in runs.

Rutgers will also run, with 64 steals last season, and six swipes this season.

Defensively, the Scarlet Knights have committed only three errors this season, and committed only 53 a season ago, so they are solid there, and won't hurt themselves very often.

In the circle, Rutgers features junior left-hander Alyssa Landrith, who is 1- on the year, with a 2.62 ERA., after going 17-15 with a 2.47 ERA. last year, along with sophomore right-hander Dresden Maddox, who is 1-0 with a 1.91 ERA., after going 10-6 with a 3.36 ERA. as a freshman a year ago.

Coming off of a 30-26 record in 2013, Rutgers should be a capable, if unspectacular team, this season. They may be a few players short of being a team that is consistent enough to qualify for an NCAA Regional, but they are good enough to beat a lot of teams that will be in an NCAA Regional, and they likely will.

The Cajuns defeated the Scarlet Rutgers, 15-1, in 2012 in the Louisiana Classic Tournament in Lafayette, but this Rutgers team is much better than that one, and one that UL is going to have to play well against to defeat.

Louisiana will play twice on Friday, against Illinois St. at 11 am, and against James Madison at 1:30 pm.

The Cajuns will play twice more on Saturday, taking on Hofstra at 1:30 pm, and USF at 4 pm.

UL wraps-up play in the tournament on Sunday at 10 am, when they face Rutgers.

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.