UL 6 - LSU 7

[NewsCopy]

BATON ROUGE - A bunt was probably the last thing anyone expected, especially after the way the first nine innings went Saturday. But Stephanie Hill's 25-foot tap was the biggest play of an NCAA Regional Softball Tournament battle between the state's two softball powers, and the hit that put LSU into today's championship game. Hill's two-out squeeze bunt in the top of the 10th inning pushed across Leslie Klein with the eventual winning run, and the top-seeded and host Tigers escaped with a 7-6 win over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns in their much-anticipated meeting. LSU (53-12) had battled back from a 5-2 deficit, and then watched the 15th-ranked Cajuns stage their own game-extending rally in the bottom of the eighth inning. "We told our players that we needed to make something happen in this inning," LSU assistant coach James DeFeo said. "We got the runners on that gave us a chance." A fielders' choice ground ball and an error provided those runs, and DeFeo - subbing for head coach Yvette Girouard, who was thrown out in the fifth inning - called for the squeeze. "He said he was thinking about it (bunting), and I said it's a great call," said Hill, whose second-inning home run had given 12th-ranked LSU its first run. UL third baseman Tara Hamilton fielded Hill's bunt but had no play at either the plate or at first. Cajun pitcher Ashley Kirchberg recorded a final out moments later, but the damage was done. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Turbine]

If there is any adrenaline left, today should be fun.

[Turbine]

One thing of note (to me) in the first Saturday game vs LSU was Steve Peloquin on 105.1 fm had just finished saying (early in the 5th) the coaching staff would not hesitate to pull Lewallen if she showed signs of getting in trouble.

I was thinking -in the 5th- that she was getting way behind and showing signs that she didn't have her best "stuff" then she gave up two runs.

So based on the radio broadcast I was surprised to see her back in the 6th.

Hindsight is usally 20-20 and in retrospect I think there was a little bit of hesitation that may or may not have cost UL the vctory.

I do know this; up to the point of the 6th inning home run Lewallen had done an EXCELENT job of pitching when she found herself behind (in the count) vs the hitters.