University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
* Florida International (DH)
20th-ranked Cajuns Take Two From FIU, Move Closer to Conference Title
4/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Saturday, April 19, 2003
MIAMI – Senior All-American third baseman Becky McMutry drove in four runs and Crystal George hit a three-run home run as the 20th-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team claimed a 5-3, 4-1 doubleheader sweep of Sun Belt Conference rival Florida International here Saturday afternoon at University Park.
McMurtry
provided the game-winning RBIs in both ends of the
doubleheader as the Ragin' Cajuns (33-5, 10-0 Sun Belt)
extended their season-high winning streak to 18 games
and Sun Belt win streak to 24 games.
Louisiana-Lafayette swept its 15th straight doubleheader dating back to last season and moved within two wins of claiming at least a share of its third consecutive Sun Belt regular season championship.
UL Lafayette was locked in a tight battle with FIU (28-22, 4-2 Sun Belt) in the fifth inning of game one before McMurtry provided the heroics that propelled the Cajuns to victory.
With the bases loaded and no outs, McMurtry greeted Golden Panthers reliever Nicole Barrett with a single through the right side of the infield between FIU second baseman Lindsey Tippings and first baseman Cynthia Turek to score Summar Lapeyrouse and Natalie Hamby with the go-ahead runs and a 5-3 lead.
In game two, McMurtry ended a pitcher's duel between Cajuns starter Afton Thoms and FIU starter Amanda Nealer with a two-out, two-RBI double that gave the Cajuns a 2-0 lead en route to a 4-1 win.
The North Platte, Neb., native ended the day 3-for-6 with four RBI to pace the Cajuns offense. She raised her season batting average to .443 with Saturday's performance.
After a scoreless first inning, George hit her fifth home run of the season - a three-run shot that glanced over the top of the outfield fence in left center field for a 3-0 lead in the top of the second.
George's
home run completed the Cajuns two-out rally in the
inning which began with FIU starter Kendra Laminack
throwing eight consecutive balls to issue walks to
Lauren Castle and Summar Lapeyrouse.
George worked a full count off of Laminack and after fouling off several pitches lifted a high-fly ball over the outfield fence for the early lead.
FIU would battle back in the third and fourth innings with three runs off of Cajuns starter Brooke Mitchell.
The Golden Panthers struck for two runs in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Turek and an RBI single up the middle of the infield by designated player Kristen Perry to trim the Cajuns lead to 3-2.
FIU got even in the fourth with an RBI single from third baseman Jennifer Owens that scored Nicole Dubovik who had doubled earlier in the inning.
McMurtry answered the call for the Cajuns in the fifth inning and Mitchell went on to shut down the Panthers the rest of the way as the Cajuns held on for the 5-3 victory.
FIU would only get one more hit in the final three innings after notching six in the first four.
Mitchell picked up the win for the Cajuns and upped her season record to 15-4 and extended her personal winning streak to nine games. She went the distance striking out four, walking five and hitting two batters.
In all, Mitchell ended the game throwing 147 pitches to the 34 batters she faced.
The Cajuns staff ace surrendered the most hits in a game since she allowed eight hits to Notre Dame on Feb. 28 in an 8-5 loss.
Laminack suffered the loss for FIU and fell to 9-9 on the season. She was charged with all five runs and allowed just two hits while striking out four.
Barrett threw three innings in relief allowing three hits – one of which was the single to McMurtry in the fifth which clinched the win for Louisiana-Lafayette.
“Crystal's home run gave us the momentum early in game one,” head coach Stefni Lotief said. “Give them (FIU) credit, they have an excellent ball club and answered back to tie the game.
“We fought through the adversity and responded by recapturing the momentum back in the fifth inning,” Lotief said.
In game two, the Cajuns jumped on FIU ace Amanda Nealer for eight hits and four runs to post the 4-1 win.
Redshirt
freshman Afton Thoms was stellar in the circle for the
Cajuns as she allowed just three hits and threw a
complete game.
“Afton just shut them down” Lotief said. “She went out there and challenged them and we supported her with stellar defense.”
Nealer cruised through the first two innings retiring the Cajuns in order each time. However, her grip on the game was loosened in the third as UL Lafayette exploded for three runs on four hits.
Freshman Leslie Pierce led off the inning with a single to left center. She was moved over to second on a grounder to second by Lapeyrouse.
After a Brittany Bryant pop up, Jill Robertson singled singled through the left side of the infield to advance pinch runner Rachel Reese over to third base.
Robertson later stole second base to set up McMurtry's RBI double and a 2-0 lead. Joy Webre extended the lead to 3-0 with a single to the left field gap that scored McMurtry.
UL Lafayette extended its lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning when Crystal George lifted a bases-loaded single into shallow center field that scored Natalie Hamby and chase Nealer from the game in favor of Barrett.
FIU notched its only run of the game when Marleah Stapf took the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth from Thoms and sent it over the left field fence.
Thoms was credited with the win for the Cajuns as she improved to 10-1 while Nealer took the loss for the Golden Panthers and dropped to 16-7.
Other Cajuns notables Saturday included sophomore Tiffany Hebert collecting her first career triple in the sixth inning of game one and then Hamby ripped a triple of her own over a drawn in outfield in the sixth inning of game two but was forced out at home when she attempted to stretch it into a in-the-park home run.
“It was good to see some of the other players step up today,” Loteif said. “We've been fighting injuries and have several starters out today.
“That's part of the plan we worked on all year,” Lotief added. “We've tried to get at bats for everyone in case we ever ran into a situation where injuries began to take its toll. Today that strategy played dividends.”
With the sweep, the Cajuns extended their win streak over the Golden Panthers to nine games.
The two teams will conclude the four-game series Sunday with a 10 a.m. (CST) doubleheader. UL Lafayette will be going for its first four-game sweep of FIU in Miami and second in as many years.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
