After tragic tornado, Louisiana Tech plays with renewed vigor. On April 24th, the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters suffered a hard-fought loss to the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. Hosting a top-10 team at their home in Ruston for the first time this season, the Lady Techsters’ pitching staff gave up seven runs, but held the hard-hitting Cajuns offense in check. Just a few hours later, softball was the last thing on the minds of anyone in Ruston, as tornado sirens sounded and bathtubs became popular dwelling places as severe weather struck the small town. A tornado touched down in Ruston in the…
Author: jmcleod
Teams across the country are gearing up for their final regular-season tuneup this weekend; with conference tournaments on the horizon next week, for the leagues that sponsor them, this is one last opportunity for teams to make tweaks and adjustments before the postseason. While most teams will finish their conference slates, there are a number of teams that also step out of conference for week thirteen. Let’s take a look at some players who could be an X-factor for their teams this week. Karli Hamilton, Texas Tech >>> The spark plug to the Texas Tech offensive attack that includes the…
Former Northern Iowa star Micalla “KK” Rettinger was killed in a shooting early Sunday morning. She was 25 years old. According to a university release and news reports, Rettinger was traveling in eastern Iowa in the wee hours of Sunday morning when she was shot. The details and circumstances of, and motives behind, the shooting appear to be hazy at best. A $6,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest. Rettinger was a a 2016 graduate of Northern Iowa, after spending her career as an outfielder for the Panthers. She was named second-team all-Missouri Valley Conference in both…
You saw the headline-makers this week (and if you didn’t, click here); Oregon State sweeping through the Civil War. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State with matching sweeps to set up a conference-championship-deciding Bedlam matchup next week. Kentucky taking a series win over Alabama in front of the Crimson Tide’s Tuscaloosa faithful. Here are our picks for the top performances you might have missed from Week 12 of the regular season. Virginia Tech Hokies In Pete D’Amour’s first season as a head coach, then at Kennesaw State, he took that team to the tournament finals of the NISC postseason tournament. This weekend,…
Laura Taylor has been selected for induction into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2019. Taylor is one of the greatest players in Pirates program history, holding a pair of program records and a plethora of awards and honors from her time at SHU. During her tenure at Seton Hall, Taylor helped lead the Pirates to back-to-back Big East tournament championships and NCAA tournament appearances in 2004 and ‘05. She was selected as the 2005 Big East Player of the Year and was a three-time all-conference first-team selection. Statistically, Taylor ended her career…
Holy Cross has signed head coach Jen Lapicki to a contract extension through the 2022 season. Lapicki is in her third season at the helm of the Crusaders and boasts a 35-94 overall record during her tenure, with a 15-33 showing in conference play, with eight games to go in the 2019 season. In 2017, her first year at Holy Cross, Lapicki led the Crusaders to a 13-30 overall record and an 8-10 mark in Patriot League play, guiding the squad to the conference tournament that season for the first time in six years. During the 2019 season, two of…
Week 12 of the regular season is upon us, and teams are beginning to set their sights toward the postseason, with conference tournaments less than two weeks away. As action continues in conference play around the nation, here are our picks for top matchups you will not want to miss this weekend. Rutgers vs. Indiana Two teams of very opposite fortunes since the start of Big Ten conference play, Indiana got off to a hot start this season, but seem to have regressed since league play began. The Hoosiers currently sit in seventh place in the B1G standings, with a…
A tornado struck Ruston, Louisiana late Wednesday night, causing significant damage to the campus of Louisiana Tech University, including the Lady Techsters’ softball field. The Lady Techsters had played a home game just hours earlier against Louisiana-Lafayette; the Ragin’ Cajuns had departed Ruston before the damaging weather came, and reports surfaced early Thursday that members of the Lady Techster softball team were accounted for and okay. Photos showed significant damage, however, to the Lady Techsters Softball Complex, where the team plays their home games. Photos posted online showed downed trees and limbs throughout the campus and on the softball field…
Legendary coach Ralph Raymond died early Tuesday morning, according to a tweet from ESPN broadcaster Michele Smith and later confirmed in a news release by USA Softball. Raymond was 94 years old, just days away from what would have been his 95th birthday on April 27th. The head coach of the 1996 and 2000 US Olympic teams, Raymond led Team USA to back-to-back gold medals in the first two Olympics that featured softball. He led Team USA to a 332-9 record during his tenure as the national team manager, giving him a .974 winning percentage in the red, white, and…
Teams are gearing up for the season’s home stretch, as the final weeks are dawning before conference tournaments and the postseason begin. As some programs seek to establish footing and simply reach the postseason, other teams are riding hot streaks at just the right team, and are primed and ready to make some noise in the postseason. Let’s take a closer look at some of those teams. North Carolina Tar Heels Record: 29-15 (15-6) >>> Since April dawned, the Tar Heels have: Swept Virginia with a trio of run-rule shutouts; recorded non-conference wins over Coastal Carolina, Liberty, and Campbell; and posted…