Lady Cajuns throttle two more foes

<i>Mississippi State, McNeese latest to be routed by UL.</i><blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. - In a big game against big competition, you can't afford to make mistakes.

That was a lesson quickly learned by the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who were defeated 7-2 by the nation's No. 5-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in the Ragin' Cajun Invitational on Saturday evening.

"It's not about who we are playing against that matters," said Cajuns coach Stefni Lotief. "It's all about how we play once we get inside the white lines. We want to just make sure that we play to the best of our abilities."

The Bulldogs (6-2) hung tough with the Cajuns (8-0) for three innings, but in the top of the fourth inning, the wheels began to fall off for MSU. Cajun first baseman Lacey Bertucci led off the inning with her third home run of the year to right centerfield giving UL a 1-0 lead. The home run extended Bertucci's hit streak to eight games.

"Lacey just utterly loves the game of softball," Lotief said. "She never takes any pitch for granted."

"I'm just seeing the ball really well right now," Bertucci said.

With two outs and Ashley Evans, who reached on a walk, on second, the Bulldogs made a costly throwing error on a ground ball hit by pinch hitter Leslie Pierce allowng Evans to score for a 2-0 lead.

"We tend to respond well when something good happens," Bertucci said. "When other teams make mistakes we want to take advantage of them."

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Eric Narcisse
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The Cajuns did just that as centerfielder Jill Robertson followed the error with a two run home run to straight away centerfield putting UL ahead 4-0. Robertson finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

"I felt a lot better at the plate tonight," Robertson said. "I'm beginning to see the ball a lot better."

Rightfielder Danyele Gomez followed Robertson's homer with a single to left field, eventually scoring on second baseman Brittany Bryant's second home run of the season to right centerfield increasing the lead to 6-0. Bryant's home run also gave her a hit in all eight of the Cajuns' game this year.

"This team just catches fire," Robertson said. "That's what happened when we had the big inning. We caught fire."

Evans made it 7-0 in the top of the fifth inning with her first home run of the year. On the first pitch she received, Evans turned an lined a shot to left.

Senior pitcher Brooke Mitchell improved to 6-0 on the year after allowed two earned runs on seven hits and striking out 12 in seven innings of work. The earned runs were the first allowed by Mitchell in 48 and two-thirds innings of work. With 1,023 career strikeouts, Mitchell moved passed Nicole Neuerbrug for 27th on the NCAA All-Time strikeout list.

"If you take away a couple of pitches then she had a great game," Lotief said. "But overall you have to take your hat off to her. She pitched another gem."

Earlier against the McNeese State Cowgirls, the Cajuns threw a combined no-hitter en route to the 6-0 victory.

Heather Bobbitt (2-0) struck out eight and walked one in five innings, before giving way to Ashley Kirchberg, who struck out four in two innings.

The Cajuns' offense was propelled by Tara Hamilton (3-4, double, RBI), Bertucci (2-4, RBI), Gomez (1-2, RBI) and Tiffany Hebert (1-1, RBI).
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