Lady Cajuns Advance to Eighth SBC Title Game
Troy, Ala.-Last season, Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns were sitting at home for the Sun Belt Conference Championship game for the first time in school history. This season, the No. 16 Lady Cajuns regrouped and advanced to their eighth SBC Title Game in school history with a 3-1 victory over Western Kentucky.
Louisiana advances to the championship game against ULM who advanced as the No. 7 seed in the other half of the bracket. Both teams are a perfect 3-0 in the tournament, with the Cajuns claiming two wins over Western Kentucky with a victory over Florida International. The Warhawks advanced to the championship after taking a game from Florida Atlantic, Troy and North Texas.
The Ragin’ Cajuns scored three runs on nine hits, including a pair of home runs. Offensively, UL was led by Melissa Verde (Beaumont, Texas). The sophomore finished the game 3-for-3 with a home run, run scored, two RBI and a walk. With her two home runs, Verde sets the Sun Belt Tournament record for runs batted in with seven. Verde drove in five RBI in the Cajuns 8-2 victory over FIU.
The Cajuns also received extra base hits from Lana Bowers (Crosby, Texas), Gabriele Bridges (Lafitte, La.) and Vanessa Soto (San Diego, Calif.). Bridges connected on a solo home run, while Bowers and Soto each collected doubles in the game.
In the circle, Donna Bourgeois (Lafayette, La.) collected her 14th win of the season. She worked 7.0 innings surrendering two hits, while fanning six batters. She allowed just one run in the game, keeping the Hilltoppers scoreless for the first six innings.
The Cajuns plated a run in the first inning on a pair of hits and two errors by Western Kentucky. Karli Hubbard (Lafayette, La.) reached first thanks to a WKU error, but was erased on a fielder’s choice during Soto’s at bat. A second error allowed Soto to move to second base. With two outs, Verde singled to deep right centerfield. Soto came around to score on the single to take a 1-0 lead after a half an inning.
Louisiana added a run in the fourth inning. Bridges drove a pitch over the left field fence into the Trojan Party Deck. For Bridges, the home run was her 11th of the season and second of the tournament.
The Cajuns added a run in the top of the seventh inning. Verde connected on a pitch and drove it into right field. The ball was over the fence and just under the scoreboard to push the score to 3-0. For Verde, the home run was her second of the tournament and fifth of the season.
Louisiana surrendered a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, the Hilltoppers used a triple and a ground out to plate their lone run and break up the shutout.
The Lady Cajuns are set to square off with in-state rival and Sun Belt Conference foe ULM in the championship game at 3:00 p.m. at the Troy Softball Complex. The game will be broadcast on Cox Sports Television (CST).
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Chris Whitehead
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