HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns softball team used dominant pitching, solid defense and scored late to open their four-game road swing with a 2-0 win over Southern Miss at the USM Softball Complex in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Freshman pitcher Donna Bourgeois (Lafayette, La.) entered the game in relief and tossed the final 5.0 innings en route to her sixth victory of the season. The freshman fireballer allowed just one hit while fanning six batters.

Brittany Cuevas (Brazoria, Texas) earned a no decision working the first two innings of the game. She allowed no runs on one hit, while striking out three batters. The duo combined for the team’s 13th shutout of the season.

Holly Tankersley (Kirbyville, Texas) led the Lady Cajuns with a pair of hits on the night. She had one of UL’s two RBI in the game with Katie Smith (Ruston, La.) driving in the Cajuns’ second run.

Freshmen Gabriele Bridges (Lafitte, La.) and Kelly Cormier (Abbeville, La.) scored Louisiana’s two runs of the game.

The game was a defensive struggle for most of the contest.

The Cajuns made a defensive stand in the first inning to keep the Golden Eagles off of the scoreboard. A leadoff walk started things for USM and a sacrifice bunt moved the runner into scoring position. A wild pitch moved the runner to within 60 feet of home plate, but a pair of strikeouts by Cuevas shut the door on the Golden Eagles threat.

In the second, a one out walk and a single gave Southern miss a pair of base runners, but a pop up and a strikeout once again stopped the Eagles in their tracks.

UL left a pair of base runners stranded in the fourth inning. A leadoff single by Tankersley started things off for the Cajuns. Courtney Trahan (Maurice, La.) pinch ran for Tankersley and moved to second base on a Vanessa Soto (San Diego, Calif.) single up the middle. The two runners advanced on a Karli Hubbard (Lafayette, La.) sacrifice bunt, but were left stranded as a line drive and ground ball ended the inning.

The Cajuns broke the scoreless deadlock in the top of the fifth inning. Bridges began the inning with a five-pitch walk. She advanced to second on a Cormier fielder’s choice, leaving the Cajuns with a pair of baserunners with no outs. Vallie Gaspard (Maurice, La.) bunted the two runners over. Bridges scored the go ahead run on a Smith single through the left side of the infield. Cormier moved to third on the play and touched the dish on a Tankersley single to left field. A ground out ended the inning, but the Cajuns led 2-0 after four and a half innings.

Southern Miss attempted to answer in the bottom of the fifth, but once again Louisiana kept the host school off of the scoreboard. With one out, Bourgeois issued a free pass. A ground ball moved the runner and a stolen base put the runner on third. The Cajuns escaped without any harm on a groundout.

In the seventh inning, USM benefited from a two-out walk and a single to bring the tying runs to the plate, but Bourgeois halted the rally with a game-ending strikeout.

The Ragin’ Cajuns softball team returns to Sun Belt Conference play over the weekend as they head to Miami, Fla. to take on the Golden Panthers of Florida International. The Cajuns will look for a little revenge as FIU swept the Cajuns during the 2007 season.

RaginCajuns

Chris Whitehead