TYLER, Texas - The Louisiana College softball team is in action this weekend at the 2011 NCAA Regional Softball Tournament playing for a berth in the D-III world Series in Salem, Va., next week. This page will provie valuable links and up-to-date inforamtion on how the Lady Cats fare.

Live stats and video for all games of the tournament will be available at client.stretchinternet.com/client/uttyler.portal#.

Further information and tournament tidbits will be available at www.uttylerpatriots.com/ncaa/.

Video from the postgame press conference from each game can be found at www.youtube.com/uttylerregional

LC 8, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3
Box Score
TYLER, Texas – A few weeks off did the Louisiana College softball team a lot of good in their 2011 NCAA Torunament opener against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Lady Cats , who finished the regular season on a four game losing streak and missed the American Southwest Conference tournament, put the past behind them and put together a 13-hit game in an 8-3 win over the Athenas Friday afternoon.

It was a slump-busting day throughout the LC lineup as five players had multiple-hit games and Louisiana College scored two runs in the first, one in the third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth to secure a convincing win.

It was the first live action for the Lady Cats since and April 22 doubleheader at East Texas Baptist.

“I think we were all a little nervous and on edge until about the third or fourth inning,” senior catcher Amber Thomas said. “It was just good to be playing softball again. We seem to have improved from our last game. We were hitting the ball well, hitting well with runners in scoring position … We were playing winning softball again.

“It was very important to us to get this win and try to build some momentum today. I don't think many people expected us to come out in this tournament and win anything.”

Thomas (Rosepine, La./Rosepine HS) went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, junior Devan Greene (Kaplan, La./Kaplan HS) went 2-for-4 with one run scored and an RBI, freshman Kaylee Guidry (Walker, La./Walker HS) 2-for-4 with two RBI, freshman Chelsey Allen (Houma, La./Vandebilt Catholic) 2-for-4 with two runs scored and freshman Stephanie Jaeger (Haughton, La./Haughton HS) 3-for-4 with a triple, three RBI and a run scored to lead the LC offense.

It was also one of the best outings of the season for senior pitcher Rene' Schwartzenburg (Marksville, La./Marksville HS), who improved to 17-4 on the season after pitching all seven innings and striking out 13 while walking three and allowing five hits.

“This was a big hump for us to clear,” LC Interim Coach Danielle Price said. “Our last three doubleheaders, we had to play with new lineups … For us to come out and play the way we did against a team like (CMS), a team that is known to put the ball on the dirt and produce runs, was a fantastic accomplishment for this team. I thought we did a good job at the plate and Rene' did a fantastic job of keeping their hitters off balance.”

Rebecca Gularte (14-6), who pitched the first 2 1/3 innings for CMS, took the loss. Leadoff batter Michelle Harvey went 3-for-4 with a run scored to lead the Athenas' offense.

Harvery, who came into the game 33-for-33 on steals, left the contest 34-for-35 after Thomas threw her out attempting to steal third in the third inning.

The Lady Cats return to action in this double-elimination tournament Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against either Redlands or Texas-Tyler.

Texas-Tyler 6, LC 4
Box Score
The Lady Cats fell behind early and couldn't quite dig out of the hole in their second game of the 2011 NCAA Softball Regional at Tyler, Texas, falling to host Texas-Tyler 6-4 Satruday afternoon.

With the loss Louisiana College will be forced to play an elimination game against American Southwest Conference East Division foe Mississippi College at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night.

LC held a 1-0 lead after one inning thanks to an RBI single by Amber Thomas but the Patriots stormed ahead to a 5-1 lead in the third after home runs by Taylor Freudenberg and Whitney Wyly.

Although LC would outscore the host team 3-1 through the remainder of the game and send the potential game-winning run to the plate in the seventh inning, Texas-Tyler would not be denied.

Rene' Schwartzenburg (17-5) took the loss for the Lady Cats while Katelyn Thomason (13-7) secured the win for UT-Tyler out of the bullpen.

LC's top offensive performers in the game were Thomas (2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI) and Brittany Menard (3-for-3 with two runs scored).

LC 6 vs. Mississippi College 3
Box Score
Louisiana College did more than stave off elimination from the NCAA Division III Softball Regional at Tyler, Texas, Saturday night. The Lady Cats surged from down three runs to claim a 6-3 victory over Mississippi College, send the Choctaws home and earn a spot in Sunday's Championship Games where wins over Texas-Tyler and Redlands could send LC to the D-III World Series.

“I'm very excited for our young women to still be alive,” Interim Head Coach Danielle Price said. “We all truly believe that we can win this and we are playing to do so.”

Louisiana College (30-11) will face Texas-Tyler at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, this following a game between UTT and Redlands at 12:30.

Should Texas-Tyler win the early game, the Lady Cats would be required to down the Patriots both Sunday and Monday to advance.

Should Redlands win the early game, LC would have to defeat both Tyler and Redlands on Saturday to earn a berth in the World Series, which will be held in Salem, Va.

On Saturday, only hours after LC fell to Texas-Tyler, the Lady Cats seemed destined for an early exit from the regional after falling behind 3-0 to MC (33-15) heading into the fifth inning.

In that fateful frame, though, the Lady Cats unleashed a torrent of offense, one highlighted by a two-out RBI double by Devan Greene.

“It was a huge comeback for our team,” Greene said. “After that early loss, we came in with our heads up, knowing we have to play our best. It was coming down to the final outs and we all realized that we had to make every at-bat count. When I was at bat, I just tried to sit up there and relax and do what I could for the team.”

After holding the Mississippi College scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, LC scored what proved to be the game winning run in the top of the sixth when sophomore right fielder Amanda Martin connected on an RBI-triple.

“I was just thinking, 'My team really needs to get this run in,'” Martin said. “And I wanted to whatever was possible to get it in. I wasn't really thinking anything beyond that. I was really just trying to do something for these girls and for this team.”

Martin went 2-for-3, Greene 2-for-4 and Brittany Menard 2-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the Louisiana College offense.

Senior Rene' Schwartzenburg (18-5), who took a loss earlier in the day versus Texas-Tyler, pitched the last 5 1/3 innings and struck out five to register the win. Kim Mason (12-6) took the loss for MC.