STEFNI LOTIEF co-head coach • ninth season louisiana, 1990 407-97 (.808) overall • 130-20 (.867) sun belt HONORS & One of the most successful players in the history of the storied Coaching at Louisiana AWARDS program, Stefni Lotief now enters her ninth season as the co-head Lotief has garnered Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year honors coach of the perennially ranked Ragin’ Cajuns softball program. fi ve times (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006) and Louisiana Coach of the College World Series No stranger to success in her days as an All-American pitcher for Year honors four times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2008). Two Times Louisiana from 1987-1990, Lotief has continued that success as co- (2003, 2008) In 2008, the Ragin’ Cajuns reclaimed the Sun Belt Conference head coach and kept the Ragin’ Cajuns as one of the nation’s premier regular season and tournament titles after being edged out in NCAA Super Regionals programs guiding the Cajuns to fi ve NCAA Regional championship 2007 by Florida Atlantic. She also guided the program to its eighth One Time games, a Super Regional series victory and two Women’s College consecutive NCAA Regional under her watch. (2008) World Series appearance in her fi rst eight seasons at the helm. Louisiana won the Baton Rouge Regional defeating LSU in the NCAA Regionals In Lotief, the Ragin’ Cajuns’ pitching staff has one of the top winner’s bracket fi nal and championship game to advance to the Eight Times mentors in the nation. In the last two seasons, the Cajuns pitching Super Regional round in Houston. The Cajuns won the Houston (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, staff has produced two freshmen (Brittany Cuevas and Ashley Super Regional to advance to the second WCWS appearance under 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) Brignac) who have won 30 games in the circle and posted 300-plus Lotief. Louisiana would defeat No. 1 national seed Florida in the strikeouts. Sun Belt Regular Season WCWS opening game. Championships In addition to her pitching staff duties, Lotief manages the softball From 2004 through 2006 the Cajuns won 50-plus games. It was Seven Times program’s administrative duties and spearheads the program’s the fi rst time in program history that Louisiana reached 50 wins (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, fundraising arm. in three consecutive seasons. The 2004 team marched its way to 2005, 2006, 2008) a school-record 60 victories and ended national power Arizona’s Sun Belt Tournament A Winning Tradition string of 16 straight Women’s College World Series berths with a 5-0 Championships Lotief holds an overall record of 407-97 (.808) at the University win the NCAA Regional No. 1 semifi nal held in Tucson, Ariz.. Seven Times of Louisiana and has posted 50-plus victories six times in eight Perhaps her best work as the Ragin’ Cajuns pitching instructor (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, seasons. Her career winning percentage ranks second in the NCAA took place in 2006. She worked with a pair of pitchers who were 2005, 2006, 2008) record books amongst all active Division I head coaches. tossing at the Division I level for the fi rst time ever – Krystal Lewallen Sun Belt Coach of the Year Lotief’s teams claimed the Sun Belt Conference regular season and Ashley Kirchberg – and guided them both to 20-win seasons. Five Times and tournament championships in her fi rst six seasons and posted In 2005, the pitching staff posted a Lotief Era-best 32 shutouts (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006) the fi rst undefeated conference record in program history in 2004 and reached 500 strikeouts for the second straight season. (18-0). She has led the program to NCAA Regionals in each season Under her tutelage in 2004, All-American pitcher Brooke Mitchell Louisiana Coach of the Year and the Women’s College World Series in 2003 and 2008. set the single-season record for strikeouts with 524 and led the Four Times She has compiled a 130-20 (.867) record in Sun Belt games. nation in victories with 45 en route to being named an NFCA/ (2003, 2004, 2005, 2008) Louisville Slugger Division I First Team All-American. The pitching All-Sun Belt Conference Attracting Homegrown Talent staff ’s earned run average of 0.90 ranked second in the NCAA stats. 55 Selections Alongside her husband and co-head coach Michael Lotief, she The Cajuns ended the 2004 season ranked No. 10 in the fi nal (43 First-Team Members) has been able to maintain the high standards of the program with NFCA Top 25 poll – the second straight season with a Top 10 fi nish. All-Americans “hometown” athletes, affi rming her belief that the state of Louisiana In 2003, Lotief and her squad saw their dreams come true and hard Eight NFCA All-American selections and East Texas is a hotbed for college softball. work pay off . She guided the program to the pinnacle of the college “Most of the players on this team are ‘hometown girls’,” she said. softball world with an appearance in the 2003 Women’s College Academic All-Americans “The coaches are hometown people. All of us, for the most part, World Series – the program’s fi rst appearance during her tenure. Two Academic All-American selections were overlooked by the ‘big’ schools in the recruiting process. The Cajuns ended No. 8 in the fi nal Top 25 poll – the highest fi nal 50-Plus Win Seasons “We had the courage to make a choice to defy the naysayers ranking since the 1996 season. 60 - 2004 and conventional wisdom and stay close to home, near family and In her fi rst season in Lafayette, she led the team to a 51-10 record, 52 - 2008 friends and pursue excellence,” she added. “All of us came here with one of the best marks in school history, Sun Belt Conference regular 51 - 2005 hopes and dreams. Add to that hard-work and solid preparation season and tournament championships. Under her tutelage, pitcher 51 - 2001 – it creates an environment where people care about each other Melissa Coronado set the school record for wins (35). 50 - 2006 Lotief’s second season (2002) was highlighted by an NCAA 50 - 2002 – and add in a community where fans and families who support and believe in the dreams and hopes, and watch the dreams become Regional held at Alfred and Helen Lamson Ragin’ Cajuns Softball reality.” Park, the fi rst time since 1997 that UL had hosted a regional. She was also instrumental in getting a new lighting system for the park, an accomplishment which helped the school land the regional bid. The 50-win season was the second straight for the program and Lotief and it marked just the second time in school history that the LOTIEF MILESTONE VICTORIES Cajuns had back-to-back such seasons. Lotief became the fastest to WIN DATE OPPONENT LOCATION SCORE 100 wins in school history as well. 1 Feb. 17, 2001 vs. Dayton Lake Charles, La. 10-0 50 May 17, 2001 vs. Southern Miss Baton Rouge, La. 5-1 100 May 11, 2002 vs. Middle Tennessee Miami, Fla. 6-0 200 May 9, 2004 at Middle Tennessee Murfreesboro, Tenn. 6-3 300 Apr. 29, 2006 vs. Western Kentucky Lafayette, La. 3-2 400 May 9, 2008 vs. Western Kentucky Troy, Ala. 3-1 LOTIEF vs. THE OPPOSITION School Record (Pct.) Alabama 1-3 (.250) Alcorn State 1-1 (.500) Arizona 2-14 (.125) Arizona State 2-4 (.333) Auburn 1-0 (1.000) Baylor 2-0 (1.000) Boston College 3-0 (1.000) Boston University 2-0 (1.000) BYU 1-0 (1.000) Cal State Fullerton 2-1 (.667) Cal State Northridge 0-1 (.000) Centenary 5-0 (1.000) Chattanooga 2-0 (1.000) Colgate 1-0 (1.000) Connecticut 1-0 (1.000) Creighton 1-0 (1.000) Dayton 1-0 (1.000) DePaul 2-0 (1.000) Drake 1-0 (1.000) East Carolina 1-0 (1.000) FIU 29-7 (.806) Florida 3-0 (1.000) Florida Atlantic 6-0 (1.000) Florida State 3-0 (1.000) Award-Winning Results Prior to Louisiana Fresno State 1-1 (.500) Since arriving in 2001, Lotief has demanded that her Her collegiate coaching experience is not just with Gardner-Webb 1-0 (1.000) team performs both on and off the fi eld. Her squads have Louisiana. In 1992, Lotief was the pitching coach at North Georgia 2-1 (.667) Georgia Tech 0-1 (.000) set high academic standards and maintained them. Carolina. She later returned to Louisiana as an assistant Grambling 4-0 (1.000) In 2002-03, a total of 12 members (out of 18 total) on the pitching and catching coach for the Cajuns during the Houston 9-3 (.750) team were members of the Sun Belt Conference Academic 1996 and 1997 seasons. Illinois 1-1 (.500) Iowa 1-1 (.500) Honor Roll. Six received recognition of being named to the Before joining the Ragin’ Cajuns’ program as co-head Iowa State 1-0 (1.000) Commissioner’s List (3.5 GPA and above). coach, she was the head coach and president of the IUPUI 2-0 (1.000) That success went a step further in 2004 when Brooke Louisiana Image, one of the best American Softball Kentucky 1-0 (1.000) Long Beach State 0-2 (.000) Mitchell was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American Association fastpitch teams in the country. As the mentor Long Island 2-0 (1.000) – the fi rst such selection for the program since 1997.