The final day of the Louisiana Classics wasn’t what the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (4-2) had in mind. For the first time since 2013, the Cajuns have lost two straight games inside the friendly confines of Lamson Park. The last time this happened was against Western Kentucky. On Sunday, it was another Conference USA team in Southern Miss (4-2) that took down the Ragin Cajuns.
The Golden Eagles took an early 3-0 lead off of the bat of Lauren Holifield who sent it over the left field wall.
The Cajuns finally got on the board in the fifth inning with an RBI double to left center field from Haley Hayden. However, the Eagles would make it a 4-1 lead with Samantha Papp hitting a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth.
The Cajuns had one more chance to rally back with DJ Sanders hitting a two-run double in the seventh to cut the deficit to one run. However, they came up just short after Craighton was thrown out at home and Daniela Chavez popped out to centerfield and fall 4-3 in the first game.
In game two, the Cajuns came out strong with three runs in the top of the third started off by Craighton hitting an RBI triple.
The power of Southern Miss’ bats brought them right back into the game with a three-run blast by Papp to tie things up in the sixth inning. Another home run, this time from Selena Estrada would wrap things up in the bottom of the seventh with a 5-3 win.
The Cajuns will stay in Lamson for a three-game set against Alabama (5-0) starting on February 17th with first pitch set for 5 pm.
-Clint Domingue