Super Lady Cajuns Advance to Sweet 16 (Super Regionals)
BATON ROUGE - Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns made history on Sunday afternoon as they defeated the No. 9 national seed LSU, 6-3, at Tiger Park to advance to the first Super Regional in school history.
The Lady Cajuns relied on solid pitching from true freshman pitcher Donna Bourgeois. The rookie worked 5.2 innings scattering seven hits in the game, picking up her 16th victory on the season. Bourgeois surrendered three runs, but only one earned run in the game. She fanned four batters while allowing just a pair of free passes.
Bourgeois was relieved for the final four outs by Ashley Brignac. The Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the year worked a perfect 1.1 innings, fanning one batter en route to her team-leading third save of the season.
Offensively, the Cajuns collected eight hits in the game. Senior transfer Vanessa Soto and freshman Katie Smith (Ruston, La.) both collected a pair of hits each. Soto drove in a pair of runs, while Smith scored two runs with an RBI.
Lana Bowers had just one hit, but drove in a pair of runs. Junior Karli Hubbard also scored two runs on the day, drawing a free pass and collecting a base hit.
The Tigers, who were the home team in the game, struck in the bottom of the first inning. After retiring the first two batters of the inning, LSU’s Rachel Mitchell doubled to right field just out of reach of a diving Holly Tankersley. A walk gave the Bayou Bangles their second runner of the game. Killian Roessner lined a double just out of reach of Smith in left field. One run scored to give the Tigers a 1-0 advantage with runners on second and third with two outs. Bourgeois worked the count full before fanning Tayl’r Hollis for the final out of the inning.
The Ragin’ Cajuns responded with a run in the top of the second. With one out, Brooke Brodhead dropped a double into shallow centerfield to give the Cajuns a runner in scoring position. Hubbard bunted Brodhead over to third base. Smith singled to second base to plate Brodhead and knot the score at 1-1. Vallie Gaspard followed with a single over the shortstop’s head to give Cajuns runners on first and second. Soto lined a shot into right field, but for the second day in a row, Quinlan Duhon robbed Soto of an RBI base hit with a spectacular defensive play to end the inning.
The Cajuns took the lead in the fourth inning. Back-to-back-to-back walks to Hubbard, Smith and Gaspard loaded the bases for Louisiana. Soto hit the ball to the shortstop Hollis who looked to get the force out at home, but mishandled the ball allowing all Cajuns to advance safely. With two out and the bases still loaded, Bowers plated two runners with a single to right centerfield on a 0-2 pitch. LSU induced a pop up to the pitcher to end the inning, but the Cajuns held a 4-1 lead after three and a half innings of play.
The Tigers cut the Cajuns’ lead to just one in the bottom of the sixth inning. After retiring the first two batters of the inning, a fielding error by the Cajuns allowed the first base runner of the inning. A two-out double by Hollis plated the lead runner and a second double in the inning scored Hollis to cut the lead to 4-3. Brignac entered the game and induced a ground ball to Melissa Verde over at third to end the inning.
Holding on to a one-run lead, the Cajuns responded with a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Hubbard led off the inning with a single up the middle. Smith followed with a bunt single that fell less than a foot in front of home plate. A ground out moved Hubbard and Smith into scoring position and a single by Soto scored the two runners to give UL a 6-3 cushion.
Brignac retired the Tigers in order in the final frame to seal the victory and send the Cajuns to their first ever Super Regional appearance.
The Ragin’ Cajuns will now travel to Houston to square off against the Cougars in a best of three Super Regional. Times and dates for the Super Regional are yet to be determined.
RaginCajuns.com
Chris Whtehead
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