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After a wild week of severe weather, the opening game of the Lafayette Regional in the NCAA Softball Tournament was pushed up nearly five hours as the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns and Princeton Tigers did battle at Lamson Park.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After a quick first inning, Louisiana’s offense started strong with Mihyia Davis drawing a four-pitch walk and stealing second before Maddie Hayden hit a single to right field, but a quick throw-in kept Davis at third and put runners at the corners with no outs for Sam Roe. Hayden stole second on the first pitch to Roe, who hit a two-run double to make it 2-0 Cajuns early. Victoria Valdez continued the early offensive success with an RBI triple to score Roe and pad the Cajuns’ lead. Louisiana added a fourth run on an Alexa Langeliers sacrifice that helped the Cajuns put up a four spot in the first inning.
In the third, Louisiana loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and two walks before a double play started to halt the momentum. However, pitcher Denali Loecker launched a three-run home run to make it a 7-0 after three innings at Lamson Park in the opening game of the Lafayette Regional.
In the fifth, Louisiana got a baserunner with two outs when Brooke Ellestad hit a grounder to the second baseman who couldn’t get control of the ball. Then, Alexa Langeliers ended the game with an RBI double to let center as the Cajuns walk off Princeton 8-0 in the opening game.
Louisiana’s pitching was great on Friday afternoon, allowing just two its in a shutout performance.
BIG NUMBER: 2
Cajuns pitching allowed just two hits on the afternoon, controlling the pace of the game in an 8-0 run-rule victory in the opening round.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Denali Loecker
Loecker pitched two innings of no-hit softball but made her biggest contribution at the plate as she hit a three-run homer to help the Cajuns run rule Princeton.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will advance to the winners’ round of the Lafayette Regional where they will face the winner of Ole Miss and Baylor on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.