Logos from Sun Belt Conference and sportslogos.net
The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns began their quest for a fifth straight Sun Belt Tournament title in softball as they battled with the Dukes of James Madison. A four-spot in the second inning gave way for the Cajuns to dominate the game from start to finish and seal an 8-0 run-rule victory to advance to the semifinals.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Louisiana got the offense going early with a bunt single from Maddie Hayden before stealing second and advancing to third on the Laney Creduer groundout. Then, Hayden came into score on a wild pitch from SBC Freshman of the Year Payton List to put the Cajuns ahead 1-0.
The offense continued in the second with a Sam Roe leadoff single followed by walks to Brooke Ellestad and Victoria Valdez to load the bases with no outs for Cecilia Vasquez, who grounded out to the third baseman to score Roe and make it a 2-0 lead for Louisiana. Samatha Graeter pinch hit for Kayla Falterman and fought with List to a full count before getting an RBI single to the left side and extending the lead to 3-0. Then, Player of the Year Mihyia Davis hit a two-run single up the middle to cap off a four-spot in the inning and gave the Cajuns a 5-0 lead.
Roe added to the scoring again in the third with a solo homer to left field to push the lead to 6-0 in favor of the top-seeded Cajuns, who have won 40+ games for 25 consecutive seasons.
In the fifth, a single from Hayden and a walk from Credeur leads to a double steal and a walk-off double from Alexa Langeliers to run-rule James Madison 8-0.
BIG NUMBER: 3
Louisiana had a great mix of offense, defense, and pitching as they only allowed three hits to James Madison in a five-inning run-rule win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sam Landry
The First-Team All-Sun Belt pitcher went 4.1 innings, giving up just three hits, no runs, and striking out four to pace the Cajuns to the victory.
UP NEXT: Louisiana advances to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Softball Championship on Friday, where they will battle the winner of Coastal Carolina and Troy at 4pm.