University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
No. 16 Florida State
McMurtry Carries Cajuns to 3-0 Win Over No. 16 Florida State at KIA Klassic
3/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Friday, March 14, 2003
FULLERTON, Calif. – Senior All-American third baseman Becky McMurtry hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning which helped propel Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team to a 3-0 win over No. 16 Florida State here Friday morning in the final game of pool play for both teams in the 2003 KIA Klassic hosted by Cal State Fullerton.
McMurtry's
home run ended a scoreless duel between Cajuns starter
Michael Parrott and FSU starter Casey Hunter who had
kept the runs off the scoreboard for the first 4 ˝
innings of play and had stranded 13 runners combined.
Jill Robertson led off the Cajuns half of the fifth with a leadoff walk – her second of three walks in the ball game. McMurtry stepped up to the plate and lifted a line drive home run over the right center field wall for the game-winning runs and a 2-0 lead.
It was McMurtry's sixth home run of the season and increased her season RBI total to 16. It was McMurtry's 20th home run as a Ragin' Cajun and 29th of her four-year career (two seasons at Illinois State).
After McMurtry's game-winning shot, center fielder Tiffany Grayson (Spring, Texas; Spring HS) drew a walk. She moved over to second when freshman right fielder Danyele Gomez (Metairie; Cabrini HS) reached on a fielding error by FSU second baseman Brandi Stuart.
Two
batters later, freshman second baseman Brittany Bryant
(Beaumont, Texas; West Brook HS) would hit a single to
center field that scored Grayson from second and pushed
the Ragin' Cajuns lead to 3-0. It was Bryant's second
RBI on the KIA Klassic.
Parrott (5-0) worked her way out of two hits in the sixth inning. The Seminoles led off the top of the sixth with back-to-back singles by Elisa Vasquez and Beth Wade. Parrott would then get Carly Brieske to ground into a 4-6-3 double play after she hit a grounder to Bryant. The Cajuns (15-4) escaped the inning unharmed when catcher Joy Webre (Denham Springs; Denham Springs HS) picked off Vasquez at third base.
The Seminoles (19-9) attempted another comeback in the top of the seventh, but the Cajuns stood tall. After Shandra Colzie led off the FSU seventh with a single up the middle and Shundra Colzie reached on a walk issued by Parrott the Cajuns made the switch to sophomore ace Brooke Mitchell (Pasadena, Texas; Deer Park HS) for the save.
With runners on first and second FSU's Tatiana George lined into a 6-4 double play and Mitchell got Lesley Palmer to strike out swinging with the bases loaded to end the game and hand the Cajuns their first win over a ranked opponent this season.
“It always great to beat a ranked team,” said head coach Stefni Lotief. “Florida State was in the College World Series last season and finished third.
“Their pitcher was obviously a good one and our hitters stayed with her the entire game,” Lotief added. “Becky then hits that big shot (home run in the bottom of the fifth) and then after that the flood gates opened. I had no doubt in my mind that we would come ready to play today and bounce back and we did.”
“That's the positive about coming out to this tournament – everyone you face is a high-quality opponents and you have the chance to beat ranked teams.”
McMurtry ended the game 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBI. Robertson drew three walks in four plate appearances.
Parrott remained undefeated on the season and lowered her team-best season ERA to 0.63. The Houston native and senior right handed pitcher has allowed just three earned runs in 33 1/3 innings this season – all three earned runs came on a three-run home run against Southern Mississippi last Sunday. Parrott struck out three and worked her way out of several jams as she stranded eight FSU runners.
With the win Louisiana-Lafayette ended its season-high two-game losing streak and improved to 1-2 in pool play. The Ragin' Cajuns also snapped a nine-game losing streak against ranked teams. UL Lafayette's last win over a ranked team came on March 1, 2002 in a 6-3 win over then-No.23 Notre Dame at the Verizon Aggie Invitational.
The win helps the Cajuns bounce back from two disappointing outcomes in Thursday's KIA Klassic action – a heartbreaker to Long Beach State and then a 7-3 tough loss to Arizona.
“Obviously yesterday (Thursday) was a tough day for us,” said Lotief. “But, we learned from that experience and it helped us in today's game. We showed out there today that we are a better team than what we showed yesterday.
“Yesterday we had the chance to go toe-to-toe with the second-best team in the nation (Arizona),” Lotief said. “That's why we come here. We come to play the best in the country to see how we match up and learn from the experience to make us a better team later on in the season when it counts the most – postseason play.
It was the Cajuns fifth straight win over Florida State in the series – one which FSU now leads 9-7. The Cajuns are 2-0 all-time versus the Seminoles in the KIA Klassic (won 12-3 in 1994 tournament). FSU ended pool play 1-2.
Louisiana-Lafayette will now wait for its bracket play opponent which has yet to be determined by tournament officials. Bracket play is scheduled to begin at approximately 7 p.m. (CST).
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
