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The rain came and tried to spoil Senior Weekend for UL's softball team.
Then UL Monroe shocked the nationally ranked Ragin' Cajuns, 1-0, in the first game of Saturday's Sun Belt doubleheader at Lamson Park. It was UL's first home loss at home this season in 21 games and ended a 23-game winning streak at home going back to last season.
After the first game, Cajun co-coach Michael Lotief spoke briefly with his players.
"Coach Mike told us to flush it," UL's Melissa Verde said. "We couldn't really forget about it. We just had to focus on the next game."
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080504/SPORTS/805040349/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Joshua Parrott •
jparrott@theadvertiser.com
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The 16th-ranked Cajuns avenged the loss, beating the Warhawks, 9-1, in a game called after five innings due to the mercy rule. Verde sparked the offense with a two-run homer to dead center in the first inning.
"I like the way they rebounded," Lotief said as UL improved to 21-1 at home this year. "They faced a little adversity and fought back."
Technically, the Cajuns (41-12, 18-3 SBC) won the Sun Belt title last weekend when the last game of its series against Troy was rained out - which mathematically eliminated defending conference champion Florida Atlantic from repeating.
Lotief, though, did not call the Cajuns the conference champions until after Saturday's Game 2 win over seventh-place ULM (19-35, 9-14). UL won every regular-season Sun Belt title from 2001-06 before finishing a half-game behind FAU last year.
"We won it today," Lotief said. "You can't win it on a rainout. You win it on the field. Today we can celebrate a little bit."
Verde, who is playing with a torn ACL in her left knee, led the Cajuns offensively in the two games, going 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBIs.
Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year Holly Tankersley went 1-for-4 with two walks on Saturday. The senior missed Wednesday's doubleheader against ninth-ranked Houston with pneumonia as the Cajuns saw their 18-game winning streak snapped with a Game 1 loss to the Cougars.
The Cajuns wrap up the series at 12 p.m. today. UL's three seniors - Holly Tankersley, Brooke Brodhead and Vanessa Soto - will be honored before the game, which will air on KLAF in the Acadiana area.
Game 1
UL opened the season with a 6-0 over ULM. Saturday's first game was anything but a replay.
Donna Bourgeois was strong on the mound but got stuck with a 1-0 loss after the Cajuns stranded 10 runners - including six in scoring position.
"It was awesome," ULM coach Rosemary Holloway-Hill said. "We worked through a lot of adversity."
After Calli Baker's one-out double in the third inning, Brianna Love drove in the game's only run with an RBI single past down the third-base line.
Bourgeois (13-4) showed pin-point control in the complete-game loss, setting a career high with 12 strikeouts and not issuing a walk. The former Teurlings Catholic standout scattered four hits but allowed her first earned run of the year at home.
"I'm not satisfied with my performance," said Bourgeois, who fell to 8-1 at home this year. "Yeah, you get strikeouts, but getting the win is a lot more important."
The Cajuns did little to help out the Sun Belt's ERA leader. They left the bases loaded in the first and fifth and also stranded runners in the second, third, sixth and seventh.
UL's Nos. 3-5 hitters - Vanessa Soto, Holly Tankersley and Lana Bowers - went 0-for-8 in the loss.
"We don't like to make excuses for ourselves," Soto said. "We put ourselves in situations almost every inning to score a couple runs, and we didn't execute."
Katie Smith and Karli Hubbard led the Cajuns with two hits apiece off ULM starter Kandace Causey. Causey (11-11) got the win after giving up six hits in the complete-game shutout.
Game 2
UL took out its frustration in the second game by blasting ULM, 9-1, in its 17th mercy-rule win of the year.
Soto and Verde both had two RBIs, while Verde and Gabriele Bridges added two hits apiece. Bridges and Tankersley also drove in runs.
Verde set the tone with her two-run shot on the second pitch she saw from Causey in the first inning. It was her third homer of the year and highlighted a three-run inning for the Cajuns, who also scored three times in the third and fifth.
"I was just more relaxed and confident," Verde said. "I got a good pitch to hit."
While Causey (11-12) was rocked for three runs in 0.2 innings, UL starter Ashley Brignac stayed undefeated at home this season with another dominant effort.
Brignac (24-6) allowed three hits and one unearned run in five innings. The freshman also struck out 11 batters and walked only one. It was the 14th time she had hit double figures in strikeouts this season as she improved to 9-0 at home as a Cajun.
"Brignac was pretty much in control of us," Holloway-Hill said. "We didn't handle ourselves very well from a discipline standpoint at the plate."
UL is now 20-5 this season when its starter logs at least 10 strikeouts in a game and 21-1 at home on the year.
Lotief was proud to see his players recover from the Game 1 loss.
"You've got to be able to flush it and refocus," he said. "We jumped on them in the first inning, and that gave us the energy to get through the game."
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