The Ragin’ Cajuns will defend their SBC tournament crown May 11-14 at Lamson Park on their home campus in Lafayette.

The Ragin’ Cajuns earned the league’s top seed after posting a conference-best 45-9 overall record and finished 19-5 in SBC play.

This marks the 11th time in the last 12 years that ULL earned the top seed in the softball tournament. The only season the Cajuns did not earn the top seed was in 2007, the only year the team did not win the tournament title.

ULL secured the league’s regular season crown in historic fashion when junior outfielder Christi Orgeron broke the Sun Belt’s single-season RBI record by driving in five runs in game two over a doubleheader sweep over Louisiana-Monroe to bring her season total to 84, the best in the NCAA.

Orgeron, a top 25 finalist for USA Softball’s Player of the Year, also scored three runs on the day to bring her total in that category to 68, also the best the nation.

Junior pitching ace Ashley Brignac threw a no-hitter and struck out 13 batters in the 3-0 shutout of ULM in game 1.

ULL has won 11 of the last 12 SBC regular season titles and 10 of the last 11 SBC tournament titles.

The Cajuns head into the 2011 tournament on a seven-game win streak and will face No. 8 Middle Tennessee at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11 in the opening round of the tournament.

Florida Atlantic earned the No. 2 seed after finishing 31-24 and 15-9 in SBC play and will play No. 7 Western Kentucky on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in Game 2 of the first round.

The Owls gave the Cajuns just their second series sweep in Sun Belt Conference play, defeating ULL for the first time in school history.

The Owls finished the regular season with a winning record for the 16th time in 17 years of softball. FAU is the only other school to win an SBC tournament title, having won the tournament in 2007.

The Lady Toppers earned the seventh seed after taking the series 2-1 over Middle Tennessee on Saturday.

South Alabama is the No. 3 seed, entering the tournament with 35 wins overall and 14 in SBC play, and will play No. 6 seed Louisiana-Monroe (27-25, 10-13 SBC).

The Warhawks are led by Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year Brianna Love, who set the new school single-season home run record on April 29 by smashing her 15th home run on the year, which also moved her to 44 for her career.

FIU (30-25, 14-10 SBC) is the No. 4 seed and will play No. 5 seed Troy, who is led by Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year Ashlyn Williams.

The senior leads the Sun Belt in strikeouts with 251 this season and moved to 18th all-time on the NCAA Division I all-time list.

The SBC will use the same format as last year for the tournament, which emulates the College World Series bracket.

The loser of games seven and eight will switch sides of the bracket to play through the loser’s bracket. The SBC tournament differs from the CWS bracket in that the SBC championship game is single elimination whereas the CWS championship round is the best two-out-of-three.

As the host institution, ULL reserved the right to choose the time of its first round game and chose to play in the 5:30 p.m. time slot. Conference policy states the host institution can choose the time of their first round games only.

Softball action will start on Wednesday, May 11, with the opening game’s first pitch slated for 10 a.m.

2011 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship Tournament Seeds
1. Louisiana-Lafayette

2. Florida Atlantic

3. South Alabama

4. FIU

5. Troy

6. Louisiana-Monroe

7. Western Kentucky

8. Middle Tennessee

2011 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 11
10 a.m.: G1 – No. 3 South Alabama vs. No. 6 Louisiana-Monroe

12:30 p.m.: G2 – No. 2 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 7 Western Kentucky

3 p.m.: G3 – No. 4 FIU vs. No. 5 Troy

5:30 p.m.: G4 – No. 1 Louisiana-Lafayette vs. No. 8 Middle Tennessee

Thursday, May 12
10 a.m.: G5 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

12:30 p.m.: G6 – Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

3 p.m.: G7 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

5:30 p.m.: G8 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Friday, May 13
10 a.m.: G9 – Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6

12:30 p.m.: G10 – Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5

3 p.m.: G11 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9

5:30 p.m.: G12 – Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10

Saturday, May 14
3 p.m.: G13 – Championship Game

All times Central (CT).