BATON ROUGE - A lot of University of Louisiana softball fans stayed around at LSU's Tiger Park Friday night to watch the host Tigers race past Princeton 5-0 in the late game of the NCAA Regional Softball Tournament.
They wanted to make sure the matchup they've been anxiously awaiting would actually come to pass.

"This has been a long time coming," said Samuel Orphe of St. Martinville. "I'd really like to see them play often."

They'll play today, with the Ragin' Cajuns and the Tigers squaring off in the winners' bracket finals of the regional. The matchup is set for 1 p.m. in front of what is already a sold-out stadium.

The 15th-ranked Cajuns made their way to today's game with a 2-0 win over North Carolina State in Friday's opening game, but will be the underdogs against the 12th-ranked and regional top-seeded Tigers.

"It's great. We get to beat LSU," said Jim Pollock of Lafayette, who said he's seen all of UL's games this year except for a recent Sun Belt series at Middle Tennessee.

Both teams are perennial NCAA Tournament participants, and the winner of today's game has the inside track on a berth in the NCAA Super Regional - one step away from the Women's College World Series.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com