BATON ROUGE - A rivalry spicier than a pot of gumbo added another chapter on Saturday.

Take a heaping of timely hitting by Melissa Verde, a touch of solid pitching by teammate Ashley Brignac and a dash of strong defense by second-seeded UL. That recipe helped the Ragin' Cajuns snap a five-game losing streak to top-seeded LSU with a 9-4 win in the championship bracket of the Baton Rouge Regional.

Verde sparked a five-run third inning with a grand slam off LSU starter Cody Trahan in a matchup of former travel ball teammates from east Texas. Her third career grand slam helped the Cajuns race out to a 9-0 lead before holding off a late LSU rally at Tiger Park.

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Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • May 18, 2008