The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball team fell to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 6-1 on Friday morning in Troy, Alabama. The loss ends the Cajuns season as the Chanticleers move on to the Sun Belt Tournament Championship.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
For the second consecutive game, Louisiana (29-25) went to Mallory Wheeler in the circle. She gave up two baserunners with one out in the first but worked a couple of pop outs to survive the first unscathed.
Coastal Carolina (40-17) countered with the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year Nicolette Picone. Picone navigated a one-two-three bottom half of the first with the help of a couple of nice defensive plays.
In the top half of the third, the Chanticleers would strike first. Two baserunners reached, and Keirstin Roose came through with an RBI single. That made it 1-0 in favor of Coastal.
The Cajuns’ offense continued to sputter, and Coastal broke things open a bit in the fourth. Reese Collier started things with an RBI double. Next, Clara Hudgens provided an RBI triple. The Cajuns brought in Tyra CLary, but not much changed. An RBI single from Libby Pippin and a sacrifice fly later, Coastal’s lead was 5-0. Sam Ryan came in but the Chants added one more run, taking a 6-0 lead.
The Cajuns would get a lone run in the bottom of the sixth, as Sam Roe provided an RBI single. Roe drove in every run of the tournament for Louisiana.
Picone would close the door in the seventh, earning Coastal a spot in the SBC Title game.
BIG NUMBER: 5
Coastal did their damage in the 4th inning when they scored five runs. That was more than enough run support for their star pitcher, who did the rest.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Nicolette Picone
The Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year showed why on Friday, as she kept the Cajuns lineup down. She was also pitching for the third consecutive day but showed no signs of fatigue.
UP NEXT: The Cajuns season comes to a close with a record of 29-25.