Courtesy of Louisiana Lafayette Athletics
LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns head softball coach Michael Lotief announced Monday that transfers Kirsten Schwirtlich, Katie Repole and Taylor Terrio will join the program for the 2015 season.
“All three of them have Division I experience,” Lotief said. “Kirsten was her conference’s (Southland) best shortstop. Taylor was the freshman of the year (in the Southland) and Katie played in the Big Ten. They all have playing experience in college. All of them wanted to be in this program and they understand and have the need to play at the highest level.”
A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Schwirtlich lettered two seasons at Houston Baptist where she started in all 92 games at shortstop and in the outfield for the Huskies. Last season, Schwirtlich earned NFCA Third Team All-Region and All-Southland Conference First Team honors after leading the league with a .411 batting average along with .702 slugging and .508 on base percentages for second best in the conference.
In her first collegiate season, Schwirtlich captured Southland Conference Freshman of the Year accolades and was named to the league’s second team. In 2013, she batted .366 and led the SLC with a .699 slugging percentage and 1.12 RBI per game, which also ranked 19th nationally. Schwirtlich led the Huskies with a .988 fielding percentage in 42 starts at shortstop.
A native of San Antonio, Texas, Repole will be closer to home after playing two seasons at Illinois. In 2014, she appeared in 36 games, starting all but one at third base for the Fighting Illini. She batted .195 with 16 hits, 10 RBI and seven runs.
During her freshman campaign, Repole made 43 appearances with 31 starts. She hit .202 with 22 hits, 11 RBI and four runs. Repole totaled three sacrifice flies on the season, which tied her for sixth in the Big Ten and 80th in the nation. She tied a 12-year school record with nine assists without an error on Feb. 15, 2013 in a game against Houston.
Terrio comes to Lafayette after one season at Nicholls State, where she earned Southland Conference First Team honors and was named the SLC Freshman of the Year. A native of Paulina, Louisiana, Terrio started all 52 games in the outfield for the Colonels in 2014. She led the team and was fifth in the conference with a .389 batting average and 65 hits. Terrio was also one of the top baserunners for Nicholls State, going 10-for-14 in stolen bases.
Louisiana is coming off its sixth Women’s College World Series appearance and a 49-10-1 season mark. The Ragin’ Cajuns return 25 letterwinners for the 2015 season, losing just two seniors in Natalie Fernandez and Shelbi Redfearn. In addition to the three transfers, the squad also welcomes nine freshmen to the roster for the upcoming season.
“This group accepts the challenge that’s in front of us, which is we’re not going into this like status quo,” Lotief said. “We’re trying to go into the fall and be as competitive as we can. I think we have some good freshmen that are coming in and I think these transfers are going to compete and up the standard. We’re going to have a very experienced team next year and the dynamics of the team are going to be very interesting. We’re going to have a very experienced team and we’re going to have a very young team.”
