UL - Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns softball team extended their season-long winning streak to 16 games as they completed a three-game Sun Belt Conference sweep of North Texas with a 3-2 victory at Lamson Park.

Louisiana (37-10, 15-2 SBC) improves to 20-0 on the season at home. The Lady Cajuns have now won 23 consecutive games at Lamson Park.

The Lady Cajuns allowed just two runs in the game, both in the sixth inning. The pair of runs ended a 30-inning streak of shutout ball by UL.

UL collected seven hits on the afternoon with sophomore Vallie Gaspard (Maurice, La.) and freshman Gabriele Bridges (Lafitte, La.) pacing UL with two hits apiece. Gaspard added a pair of runs, while Bridges also scored a run.

Lana Bowers (Crosby, Texas) drove in two of the Cajuns’ three runs. Bowers had RBI on a ground out and a sacrifice fly.

Starting pitcher Donna Bourgeois (Lafayette, La.) earned the win, while Ashley Brignac (River Ridge, La.) picked up her second save of the year. Bourgeois worked 6.0 innings allowing two unearned runs on four hits. She struck out five batters while walking just one. Brignac entered the game in the seventh fanning two batters in her lone inning.

The Cajuns struck first in the opening frame. A leadoff walk by Gaspard coupled with a hard hit single to short by Holly Tankersley (Kirbyville, Texas) gave Louisiana a pair of baserunners. A ground ball moved the runners into scoring position. Bowers hit a deep fly ball to left field to plate Gaspard and give UL a 1-0 lead. For Bowers, the sacrifice fly was her third of the season and second of the series with North Texas.

Bridges led off the second inning with a single to right centerfield. With one out, Katie Smith (Ruston, La.) bunted the runner over to second base. Gaspard followed with a single and an error by the Mean Green moved her to second base. Bridges came around to score on the play to give the Cajuns a 2-0 advantage.

The Cajuns added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. Gaspard singled to short and advanced to second on an intentional walk by Tankersley. A fly ball advanced Gaspard to third and Bower’s RBI groundout plated what would prove to be the winning run.

The Mean Green plated two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Back-to-back one-out singles gave North Texas a pair of baserunners. A fielder’s choice left NT with runners on the corners. A stolen base attempt caught the lead runner in a potential rundown, but an errant throw home allowed the runner to score. With a runner on second and two outs, the Mean Green plated a second run with a single through the left side of the infield that was mishandled by the Cajuns’ outfield.

Leading 3-2, Brignac entered the game in the seventh inning and slammed the door shut on North Texas’ chances. Brignac induced a pop up back to the circle and fanned the next two batters for a perfect inning en route to her second save of the season.

The Lady Cajuns will hit the road for a three-game conference series with Troy this weekend. The Cajuns and Trojans will open the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The teams will conclude the series with single game on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

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Chris Whitehead