Lady Cajuns Sweep at Home

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  UL - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns softball team needed two days to complete game two of the series with Troy and then needed nine innings in game three, but completed the Sun Belt Conference series sweep on Sunday afternoon at Alfred and Helen Lamson Ragin’ Cajuns Softball Park.

The Cajuns (31-10, 13-5) concluded game two with a 9-1 mercy-rule victory before claiming a 4-3 win in nine innings in the series finale. With the sweep, Louisiana remains atop the Sun Belt Conference standings tied with Western Kentucky in the loss column.

Christi Orgeron finished the weekend with a .636 batting average, with seven hits including three home runs, a grand slam, a double and seven RBI.

In the circle for the Cajuns this weekend, Donna Bourgeois and Brittany Cuevas were nearly perfect. Bourgeois recorded two victories with a 1.08 ERA on the weekend. She struck out 12 batters in 13.0 innings of work. Not to be out done, Cuevas fanned 11 batters in 8.0 innings of relief for her win. She had a perfect 0.00 earned run average.

In the series finale, the Cajuns collected 13 hits, including a pair of home runs and a double. Lana Bowers and Orgeron both had home runs in the game and Gabriele Bridges added a double.

UL Press

[NewsCopy]

  UL - The Lady Cajuns were leading game two by a score of 3-1 before inclement weather halted play on Saturday. Upon resuming play on Sunday, UL added six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks in large part to a grand slam by Orgeron.

Louisiana scored nine runs in the game on nine hits. The Cajuns were led by Orgeron who finished the game 3-for-3 with two home runs, including a grand slam and a double. Orgeron drove in a career-high six runs, while scoring a pair.

Karli Hubbard also added multiple hits in the game, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and the game-clinching RBI single in the fifth.

Bourgeois tossed the complete game allowing just two hits and striking out three. She surrendered a run in the top of the first, but held the Trojans scoreless for the final four innings.

Troy was the first team to score in the second game. In the first inning, Bourgeois surrendered back-to-back two-out walks which proved to be costly as a single to left center field plated a run and saw the Cajuns trailing 1-0 after a half an inning of play.

The Cajuns wasted little in taking a 3-1 lead, scoring three unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning. Vallie Gaspard started the game with a leadoff walk. A sacrifice advanced Gaspard to second and a ground ball off of the pitcher’s leg moved the runner to third base. A throwing error by the Trojans scored Gaspard from third and allowed Bridges to reach second base. Orgeron wasted little time plating the runner as she homered to left field. The home run was her second of the season and first at Lamson Park. After one complete inning of play, the Cajuns led 3-1.

Both teams were held scoreless in the second inning and the Cajuns kept Troy off of the scoreboard in the third inning. Louisiana had two outs in the bottom of the third inning when the game was suspended.

When play resumed, it was all Cajuns. Louisiana Scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth to win in mercy-rule fashion. The Ragin’ Cajuns loaded the bases in the fifth inning and Bridges dropped a bloop single into shallow left center field to plate the first runner of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Orgeron hit her second home run of the game and her first collegiate grand slam to increase the Cajuns’ lead to 8-1. Hubbard ended the game with a single through the right side of the infield to score the final run of the game.

UL Press

[NewsCopy]

  UL - The Lady Cajuns claimed the final game of the three-game series with a nine-inning marathon that saw UL victorious by a score of 4-3.

The Lady Cajuns pounded out 13 hits including a pair of home runs and a double.

Erikka Murphy made her one hit of the game count as she had the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Orgeron finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and a home run. Bowers, Bridges and Gaspard each had multiple hits in the game with Bowers homering and scoring two runs; Bridges doubling; and Gaspard finishing the game with three hits.

In the circle, Cuevas picked up the win. The junior worked 8.0 innings in relief of Bourgeois. Cuevas fanned a season-high 11 batters in the game and had retired the final 16 batters in order.

In the scheduled game of the day, the Cajuns were the first to score as they plated a run in the second inning. Bowers hit her fourth home run of the season to give Louisiana a 1-0 advantage after two complete innings.

Troy took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning. A costly throwing error by the Cajuns gave the Trojans a runner on second with no outs. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner over to third. With two outs, Troy used a two-run home run to take the lead.

The Trojans added a run in the top of the fourth. For the second inning in a row, an error cost the Cajuns a run. Troy added the unearned run to take a 3-1 lead.

Louisiana threatened in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bridges led off the inning with a double to right center field and Orgeron followed with a single to center field to give UL runners on the corners. A shallow fly ball was not deep enough to score Bridges from third. A walk loaded the bases, but a line drive out and a groundout ended the inning without scoring a run.

The Cajuns tied the score in the bottom of the sixth inning. Orgeron started off the inning with her third home run of the series to cut the deficit to 3-2. A one-out single by Bowers gave the Cajuns a base runner and a fielding error by the Trojans gave UL two on with two outs. Vallie Gaspard walked on four straight pitches to load the bases and set the stage for Hubbard, the Cajuns’ leader in hits this season. The senior slapped a single through the left side of the infield to plate Bowers from third and knot the game at 3-3.

The game went into extra innings and in the bottom of the ninth, Murphy delivered a two-out bases loaded single for the game winning hit. Bridges singled to lead off the inning and Orgeron walked to give UL a pair of base runners. Following an out, Kelly Cormier singled over the third base man’s head to load the bases for the Cajuns setting up Murphy’s heroics.

UL Press

[LSUConnMan]

This is getting ridiculous. I never thought I'd ever see each of my alma maters play UL in a single season...and with three universities, I definitely never contemplated they could go o'fer. Worst yet, I get a good celebration pic...and #20's nowhere to be found. Bad outing all around.

[Zeebart21]

Oh what a bummer for you!!! You wearing the UNC cap today?

Z

[LSUConnMan]

Never, I'd probably wear a UL cap first first. But, I was wearing a Troy polo.

[ulforlife]

nice pictures though

[CajunCharlie]

_ Never, I'd probably wear a UL cap first first. But, I was wearing a Troy polo. _

What an afternoon! My bald head suffered from sunburn, but it was worth it to see the Ladies show some grit and muscle. I thought for certain that game three was going to be a loss, but they came through because of the "slappers". Go figure!

Was that you I saw boohooing in the corner following game three?

Very nice pics though!!