Cajuns fall to Lady Bears 2-1
WACO, Texas-Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns softball team dropped the first game of the 2009 NCAA Waco Regional as they lost a heartbreaker to tournament-host Baylor by a final score of 2-1 on Friday night at Getterman Field.
The two teams played nearly even softball throughout the entire game, but a pair of errors by the Cajuns proved to be costly leading to an unearned run. Both teams had five hits in the game with each team recording a double. Both teams scored one earned run, but Baylor managed an unearned run to claim the victory.
The Ragin’ Cajuns were led offensively by Vallie Gaspard and Karli Hubbard. The slapper tandem each collected a pair of base hits in the game and Gaspard score the Cajuns run. Codi Runyan had UL’s only RBI as she hit her team-leading fourth sacrifice fly of the game. Lana Bowers finished the game with a hit as she doubled in the sixth inning.
Donna Bourgeois took the hard-luck loss for the Cajuns. The Lafayette native tossed a complete game, scattering five hits in seven innings of work. She allowed just one earned run and struck out three batters. Bourgeois worked a no-hitter into the fourth inning facing just one batter over the minimum through the first three innings of work.
The Cajuns were the first to score as they plated a runner in the top of the first inning. Back-to-back singles by Gaspard and Hubbard started things off for UL. Melissa Verde followed with a walk to load the bases with no outs. With the bases loaded and no outs, Runyan hit a deep fly ball into the wind to straight away center field. The ball was deep enough to score Gaspard from third on the sacrifice fly and give Louisiana a 1-0 lead after a half an inning of play.
Louisiana threatened in both the third and the fourth innings as they had a pair of base runners on base, but failed to score. The Cajuns remained ahead thanks to excellent defense. Bourgeois had her no hitter broken up in the bottom of the fourth inning as the first batter of the inning Bree Hanafin singled into left field. The Ragin’ Cajuns defense stood strong as a ball hit to Kelly Cormier at second base led to a double play. The next batter lined out to Runyan at short to end the inning.
Baylor tied the score in the bottom of the fifth inning at 1-1. Back-to-back singles gave the hosts a pair of base runners. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners into scoring position. A bloop single into shallow center field plated the tying run and left the Lady Bears with runners on second and third. Bowers caught the next pitch from her battery mate and quickly headed towards third base. Bowers got the lead runner trapped in a run down that ended with Bourgeois tagging out the lead runner. With two outs and a runner on third, Bourgeois induced a ground ball to first base to end the inning and halt the Baylor rally.
The Cajuns threatened in the top of the sixth inning. Bowers led off the inning with a hot-shot double off of the Baylor third baseman that ricocheted into the Lady Bears dugout. Katie Smith walked to give the Cajuns a pair of base runners with two outs, but a ground ball ended the inning, leaving the score knotted at 1-1.
The Lady Bears took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with a run to take a 2-1 lead. With one out, Baylor’ Hanafin hit ball off of the left center field wall. Hubbard threw the ball to second base and Cormier appeared to tag the runner, but the batter was ruled safe at second with a double. A groundout to short left BU with a runner on second and two outs. The next batter hit a ground ball to short, but an errant throw to first base allowed the runner to reach safely. Gabriele Bridges threw home to try to catch the lead runner but Hanafin slid in safely under the tag. A second error extended the inning but Bourgeois closed the door on the Lady Bears with a strikeout.
In the final inning, the Cajuns sent the heart of their lineup to the plate, but were unable to produce a run as a pair of popups and a deep fly ball ended the game.
The Ragin’ Cajuns will square off against the top seeded Northwestern in an elimination game at 4:00 p.m. The Wildcats were upset by Texas State who run-ruled the No. 12 National seed, 8-0 in the early game on Friday.
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