Strong pitching, six homers guide No. 6 UL to sweep

Brooke Mitchell could have easily snapped the University of Louisiana's school record for career softball victories here Saturday.

But Ragin' Cajun head coach Stefni Lotief thought it more important to get her other pitchers as many innings as possible, and the opportunity presented itself in both ends of the Cajuns' twinbill with Louisiana Tech.

Mitchell, everybody's All-American, started both games of Saturday's doubleheader but pitched a total of only six innings as UL posted easy 8-1 and 11-0 victories. Ashley Kirchberg threw the last three innings in the opening win and one inning in the second game, and Heather Bobbitt threw the final two in the five-inning run-rule nightcap.

"It's going to take more than one pitcher before it's over," said Lotief, whose sixth-ranked squad improved to 17-2. "They have all worked hard and they all need to get their innings in when the opportunity presents itself."

The opportunity didn't present itself for the Lady Techsters (8-13), who got only one hit in each game. Of the 18 outs recorded by Mitchell, 17 were by strikeout. In all, Cajun pitching struck out 27 batters in the 12 innings.

"You've got to try to eliminate one or two pitches," said Tech coach Sarah Dawson. "The rise ball is usually up and out of the zone, and you have to eliminate that and concentrate on the other pitches. We just didn't execute that very well."

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com