BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns needed extra innings but the team finally pulled out a 1-0 victory over George Washington on a windy Friday night at the NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Kendra Lamb set the tone for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Lamb started off striking out the first batter she faced and then proceeded to take down Colonial hitters.
Lamb would carry a no-hitter into the top of the seventh while striking out seven batters and giving up no walks.
The problem was that George Washington’s Sierra Lange was pitching well. After giving up a two-out single to Kendall Talley, Lange got out of the jam in the first when Talley was caught stealing second base.The Ragin’ Cajuns got the leadoff runner in the third as Jade Gortarez singled to left center, but Sophie Piskos hit into a double play.
The Ragin’ Cajuns had another opportunity in the bottom of the sixth.
Piskos drew a one-out walk and then Ciara Bryan reached on a fielding error. Kaitlyn Alderink flied out but Jenna Kean (pinch-running for Piskos) and Bryan stole second and third base.
Talley grounded out for the third out.
George Washington finally got a hit off of Lamb as Linquist led off with a single to left field. Ragin’ Cajuns coach Gerry Glasco pulled Lamb for Summer Ellyson.
After a passed ball allowed Linquist to advance to second base, Ellyson proceeded to get the Colonials to pop out twice and ground out.
The Ragin’ Cajuns then had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth.
Bryan led off the frame with a single that was too deep for the George Washington second baseman to field. Bryan then stole second base.
Alderink appeared to have lined out to third base but the umpire ruled that the ball hit the ground before being fielded. That put two runners on with no outs.
Talley then laid down the sacrifice bunt and beat out the throw to the first to load the bases with no outs.
After Julie Rawls popped up to the catcher, Alissa Dalton stepped into the batter’s box but the Ragin’ Cajuns shortstop hit a hard liner to second base and the Colonials threw to first to throw Talley out for the third out.
The Ragin’ Cajuns finally came through in the bottom of the 11th.
Piskos led off with a single to left field.
After Bryan flied out, Alderink reached on a fielder’s choice and Piskos advanced to second on an error. Talley then flied out for the second out but Karly Heath came off the bench to pinch hit for cleanup hitter Rawls.
Heath took the third pitch she saw and hit to the warning track in left field to score the winning run.
BIG NUMBER: 0
Kendra Lamb and Summer Ellyson combined to strike out 14 George Washington batters in Friday’s game. Even more impressive was that the Ragin’ Cajuns duo gave up no runs and no walks in a combined 11 innings of work.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Karly Heath
The sophomore outfielder came off the bench in the 11th inning and delivered the game-winning hit. Heath blasted a pitch off George Washington’s Lange that nearly cleared the wall in left field. Heath didn’t get the home run but she did drive in the game-winning run.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will take on host LSU on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Tiger Park.