The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball team got back on the winning side of things on Friday night, defeating #22 Baylor 4-1 at Lamson Park in Lafayette. The victory ends a three-game losing skid and marks the first ranked victory of the season for Louisiana.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Chloe Riassetto took the circle for the Cajuns and was effective early on. Shwe got the Bears in order in the top of the first. In the bottom half, Mihyia Davis reached base on a single but was thrown out trying to steal second. A two-out walk to Brooke Ellestad extended the inning, but she was stranded.
Both pitchers would quickly settle in and cruise through the early innings. In fact, neither team had a base runner reach second base through four full innings of play. In the top of the fifth, Emily Hott hit a ground ball to second that was bobbled, allowing her to reach. She made it to second via a sacrifice bunt, but was then thrown out trying to steal, keeping the Bears off the scoreboard. A two-out double gave the Bears another look at scoring, but Riassetto fielded her position and kept them scoreless in the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Louisiana finally delivered some offense, all with two outs. Maddie Hayden singled to left, allowing Kayla Falterman to score from first after the left fielder misplayed the ball. Then, Davis reached on an infield hit which allowed Hayden to score. And finally, Alexa Langeliers lifted a two-run moon shot to left to make it 4-0 Louisiana in front after five innings.
After a clean sixth inning, Riassetto took the mound to try to finish things in the seventh. However, Baylor began the inning with back-to-back singles. The Cajuns stuck with their starter, and she delivered. Baylor did get a two-out single to score a run, but that was all they would get.
BIG NUMBER: 1
The Baylor offense was held to one run in the contest, thanks to the pitching of Riassetto and the Cajuns’ defense behind her. That allowed the offense to recover from a slow start.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Chloe Riassetto
Riassetto gave the Cajuns the outing they needed, going the distance and allowing just one run. It was a huge performance from the southpaw against a top 25 opponent.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will face Baylor again tomorrow evening at 4:00 PM at Lamson Park.