Why the Baton Rouge Regional Might Be the Cajuns Best Path to the WCWS
Your Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball has put an exclamation mark on another outstanding season by winning the SBC tournament. The Cajuns ended what has been a year of streaks by adding to another as this SBC tournament win makes it four in a row. The Cajuns finished the season at 46-13 and 22-2 in conference play as they completed their 24th consecutive 40-plus win season.
The Cajuns were hoping to host regional but will be on the road instead. The Cajuns are headed to the Baton Rouge regional as LSU will play host as the 10th seed. The Cajuns come as the two seed in this regional, slated to take on the third-seeded Omaha Mavericks in the first game. Let’s break this regional down and show why this may have been the Cajuns' best path to the WCWS.
Let’s start with their first matchup, the Omaha Mavericks. The Mavericks come into the matchup with a 32-15 record and fresh off of a Summit League championship. This offense is not considered explosive as they come in with a team batting average of .258 compared to the Cajuns’ .309. The pitching seems evenly matched when you look at the statistics as the Mavericks have a team ERA of 2.51 whereas the Cajuns sit at 2.08. They have two pitchers with 25 plus appearances this year as Nuismer has 25 appearances but expect Kamryn Meyer to start as she comes in with 33 appearances on the year. The Cajuns have a well-known three-headed monster as their pitching staff and should be well-equipped for this game.
Assuming the Cajuns win the first game, they will more than likely face LSU. The reason why I stated earlier that this was the best path for the Cajuns was because of the opponent. They have faced the Tigers twice this year so they are familiar with their style of play. Having won one of those games in Tiger Park, the Cajuns know how to win in that environment. Familiarity and comfortability play a big part come tournament time.
Another reason this is the best path for the Cajuns is that if they can win the Baton Rouge regional, they will be matched with the winner of the Washington Regional. Washington is the 7th-seed and a much better matchup for the Cajuns than the one-seed or the two-seed. Regardless of getting to host or not, it's tournament time, and the stage is set. The Cajuns take on the Mavericks of Omaha in game one of the Baton Rouge Regional on Friday starting at 2 PM.