The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball team defeated the McNeese Cowgirls 2-1 at Lamson Park on Wednesday night. The victory moves the Cajuns to 15-12 overall and the Cowgirls fall to 14-12.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game began with Sam Landry in the circle for Louisiana. She worked around a one-out walk to put up a scoreless frame. McNeese sent out Shaelyn Sanders to oppose Landry. She allowed a one-out single, but a double-play erased the baserunner and allowed for a matching zero on the board.
Both pitchers cruised through the first couple of innings, but Louisiana got traffic on the bases in the bottom of the third. A single, walk, and hit by pitch loaded the bases. Then, Sam Roe and Sophie Piskos drew RBI walks to give the Cajuns a 2-0 lead through three innings.
Landry had her best stuff in this game, and McNeese struggled to figure her out. It was not until the fifth inning that the Cowgirls got a runner into scoring position. That runner, however, was stranded as Crislyne Moreno struck out looking to end the inning.
The zeroes continued to go up on both sides, as Sanders settled back in after the rocky third inning. The score held at 2-0 into the seventh, where Landry came back out. She walked the first batter of the inning and followed that up with a hit by pitch, putting two on with none out. After a walk loaded the bases with one out, the Cajuns went to Chloe Riassetto to get the save. She worked a ground ball out, but then an error at third gave McNeese a run and kept the game going. After that, Brooke Ellestad redeemed herself by making the next play to end the game.
BIG NUMBER: 1
Sometimes the big number is a little number. Landry and Riassetto only allowed one hit in this game, and barely allowed the Cowgirls to even threaten scoring a run until the final inning.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sam Landry
This was vintage Landry, and she was in complete command in the circle. Her only struggle came in the seventh inning, but Riassetto helped close the door.
UP NEXT: The Cajuns will begin Sun Belt Conference play on Friday, March 15th in Mobile against South Alabama. The Cowgirls will begin Southland Conference play with a double-header on Friday as well against Nicholls in Thibodaux.