TROY, Ala. - Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns left no doubt in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship game as they blasted ULM 13-0 at the Troy Softball Complex.

The Lady Cajuns tallied 13 runs on 14 hits including three home runs. Five different Ragin’ Cajuns players collected multiple hits in the game. Karli Hubbard (Lafayette, La.) and Holly Tankersley (Kirbyville, Texas) paced all Cajuns’ players with three hits each, while Lana Bowers (Crosby, Texas), Katie Smith (Ruston, La.) and Vanessa Soto (San Diego, Calif.) all collected two hits apiece.

Bowers, Soto and Tankersley each collected home runs in the contest.

In the circle, Ashley Brignac (River Ridge, La.) collected her third victory of the tournament. She worked 5.0 innings surrendering just three hits in the shutout. Brignac fanned five batters en route to being named the SBC Tournament Most Outstanding player.

Other Cajuns named to the All-Tournament team included Gabriele Bridges (Lafitte, La.) and Melissa Verde (Beaumont, Texas). Bridges and Verde both finished the tournament with a record eight RBI.

Aside from the Cajuns, the All-Tournament team consisted of Kandace Causey (ULM), Molly McNeill (ULM), Megan Miller (ULM), Mallory Cantler (North Texas), Ashlyn Williams (Troy), Terri Ellingsworth (WKU) and Rebecca Horesky (WKU).

The Cajuns jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Tankersley led off the inning by blasting a home run to straight away centerfield. Verde followed with a walk. Verde came around to score as Bowers belted a two-run homer of her own to left centerfield. A throwing error by ULM allowed Brooke Brodhead (Lafayette, La.) to reach first safely. Brodhead moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a Katie Smith (Ruston, La.) single to shortstop. Brodhead scored the final run of the inning for the Cajuns as Hubbard singled to third base.

The Cajuns increased their lead to 10-0 in the top of the fourth inning, scoring six runs on six hits. Smith led off the inning with a walk. She stole second and moved to third on a groundout. A bunt single by Hubbard gave the Cajuns runners on the corners. Soto hit a deep fly ball to left centerfield. Initially, it appeared that Soto had hit her NCAA-leading eighth sacrifice fly, but the ball continued to carry and ended up being her seventh home run of the season. Tankersley followed with a single and proceeded to steal second base. Bowers singled to centerfield to plate Tankersley and advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Brodhead waked and Bridges singled to left field to score Bowers from second. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base and a Smith single plated Brodhead for the final run of the inning.

The Lady Cajuns added three more runs in the top of the fifth inning for the final margin of victory. Louisiana scored three runs on four hits to extend their lead to 13-0.

With the win, the Lady Cajuns secure the Sun Belt Conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals. The Cajuns will find out which Regional they will be appearing in at 9:00 p.m. Central Time during the Regional Selection Show on ESPN-U.

RaginCajuns.com

Chris Whitehead