University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Mexico State
Cajuns Smother Aggies With 31-Run Barrage In Twinbill Sweep
4/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Saturday, April 12, 2003
LAFAYETTE – The 21st-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team pounded out 31 runs and 24 hits en route to a 17-0, 14-0 Sun Belt Conference softball sweep of New Mexico State here Saturday afternoon at Lady Cajun Park.
Louisiana-Lafayette
(26-5, 6-0 Sun Belt) used a seven-run first and nine-run
fourth inning to pull away in game one and then rode the
wave of a 10-run second inning in game two.
In the two games combined UL Lafayette batted around three times and sent 15 batters to the plate in the second inning of the game two.
The offensive onslaught was more than enough support for the pitching performances of Brooke Mitchell, Michael Parrott, Rachel Reese and Afton Thoms.
Mitchell went two innings in each game without allowing a single hit and striking out seven batters while collecting a win. Thoms threw three-innings of one-hit relief in game two to pick up her eighth win of the season.
With the sweep, UL Lafayette extended its season-high winning streak to 11 games and its home win streak to 18.
The Cajuns have now won 20 straight Sun Belt games dating back to last season's 7-6 loss to Western Kentucky on April 6 and are 40-2 all-time in SBC play.
Senior
All-American third baseman Becky McMurtry extended her
season-high hitting streak to 13 games with an infield
single in the first game and a three-run home run in the
second game. She ended the day 3-for-4 with five RBI and
four runs scored while improving her team-leading
batting average to .438.
The Cajuns as a team hit .511 for the afternoon, going 24-for-47. UL Lafayette hit five home runs over the two games increasing its season total to 49.
Brittany Bryant's home run in the fourth inning of game one was the Cajuns' 41st home run of the season at Lady Cajun Park – establishing a new single-season record.
Lauren Castle was 5-for-6 with three runs scored and four RBI as she improved her season batting average to .286 and her RBI total to 14.
Danyele Gomez was 4-for-6 with three runs scored, one home run and two RBI. Gomez hit a solo home run in the fourth inning of game one for her team-leading 11th of the season. She is now one home run shy of tying Alana Addison's freshman record for home runs. The two RBI push her Sun Belt-best and team-best total to 35.
Sophomore
Tiffany Hebert collected three hits in five at bats and
drew a walk. Hebert scored four runs and added a double
and two RBI. The double in the first game was the first
of her career.
Freshman Brittany Bryant went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run a five RBI. She increased her season RBI total to 27 – third on the team.
Senior first baseman Summar Lapeyrouse lifted a sacrifice fly to left field in the first inning of the first game for her 10th RBI of the season. Lapeyrouse's double-digit RBI total now gives the Cajuns every starter with double-digit RBI.
In game one, the Cajuns put the game out of reach with a seven-spot in the first inning.
Gomez got the offense started with an RBI double off of the wall in right center field that scored Jill Robertson to make it 1-0.
Following a Joy Webre walk, one of four walks in the inning by NMSU starter Anita Knight, Bryant singled up the middle for two RBI and a 3-0 lead.
Webre scored on a single by Castle, who has 3-for-4 in game one, to make it 4-0. Lapeyrouse's sacrifice fly would make it 5-0 and two batters later Crystal George hit a sacrifice fly of her own for a 6-0 lead.
An infield single by McMurtry, a hit which extended her hitting streak, brought home the seventh run of the inning as Hebert scored.
One
more run was added in the third inning when Webre hit
the Cajuns third sacrifice fly of the game for an 8-0
lead. Webre's sacrifice scored Natalie Hamby who pinch
ran for George who led off the inning with a single
through the left side.
The Cajuns would then receive nine more runs in the fourth inning off of eight hits and three Aggies errors.
The bombardment was highlighted by home runs from Gomez and Bryant. Hebert doubled down the left field line to score Lapeyrouse with the final run of the game to make it 17-0.
Senior pitcher Rachel Reese closed out the fifth inning, stranding three runners as she got Devon Melby to hit an infield popup to end the Aggies only threat of game one and wrap up the Cajuns 10th straight win.
NMSU (7-42, 0-6 Sun Belt) collected four hits in the game, the first of which was a double to left center field by Nicky Bernal to lead off the top of the third inning. However, Bernal committed the cardinal sin of baseball or softball as she was picked off of second a couple of pitches later.
Mitchell
picked up the win to improve to 12-4 on the season. She
earned her sixth straight victory.
Knight (1-18) suffered the loss for the Aggies who dropped their eighth straight outing.
Eight different Cajuns scored at least two runs and four had at least two hits.
In game two, the Cajuns picked up right where they left off.
After a two-run first inning, UL Lafayette's flood gates opened wide in the second for a 10-run inning that turned a 2-0 game into a 12-0 one.
Hebert led off the Cajuns second inning with a single to left field and was followed by a George walk. After a Robertson fly out to right field, McMurtry extended her season-high hitting streak to 13 games with a monster shot over the scoreboard in right field for three runs and a 5-0 lead.
Louisiana-Lafayette would push across seven more runs in the inning after McMurtry's blast. George capped the inning with her second home run of the season - a three-run blast that was deposited roughly five rows deep into the left field bleachers.
George would bring home the Cajuns final runs of game two with her second home run of the game and third of the season in the third inning. With two outs, George sent a pitch back into the left field bleachers to score Hebert who had reached one batter before with a two-out single to center field. George's home run made it 14-0 UL Lafayette.
Louisiana-Lafayette went down in order in the fourth inning and Thoms retired the side in the top of the fifth to end the game.
Thoms (8-1) earned the win in relief of Mitchell. According to NCAA scoring rules, a starting pitcher must pitch three complete innings of a five-inning game in order to receive credit for the win. If not, then the win goes to the relief pitcher who followed the starter.
Mitchell only threw two innings thus seceding the win to Thoms who went three innings and allowed just one hit and struck out two.
The two shutouts were the Cajuns 15th and 16th of the season. The pair of mercy rule wins increased the Cajuns total this season to 12.
In Sun Belt Conference play, UL Lafayette has tossed four shutouts and four mercy rule wins while outscoring the opposition 64-7, an average of 10-1 per game.
The two teams will wrap up the four-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. in a twinbill. The Cajuns will also be honoring their four seniors – Summar Lapeyrouse, Becky McMurtry, Michael Parrott and Rachel Reese – before the first game of Sunday's doubleheader.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
