University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
McNeese State (DH)
Mitchell and McMurtry Catapult Cajuns, Gomez Sets Home Run Record
4/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
LAKE CHARLES – Sophomore ace Brooke Mitchell tossed her third no-hitter of the 2003 season to go along with a win in relief in game two and true freshman Danyele Gomez ripped her school single-season record 17th home run of the season as the 21st-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team recorded a 4-0, 3-2 sweep of in-state rival McNeese State here Tuesday evening at the Cowgirl Diamond in the Cajuns' non-conference finale.
With the sweep, the Ragin' Cajuns extended their win streak to four games and moved to 37-7 on the season – a season-high 30 games above .500. UL Lafayette will now take the next three days off before opening a key four-game Sun Belt Conference series in Bowling Green, Ky., against Western Kentucky this weekend.
McNeese State fell to 23-25-1 and concluded its 2003 regular season and will now travel to Natchitoches for the Southland Conference Tournament.
UL Lafayette rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the nightcap to preserve the sweep and extend its win streak over the Cowgirls to 33 straight games and finish the regular season 16-0 against Louisiana teams and 27-5 in non-conference tilts.
Lauren Castle lifted a bloop single to shallow center field on a 3-2 count with two outs to score Summar Lapeyrouse from second with the game-tying run in the top of the sixth inning. Lapeyrouse had reached second on a two-out double off of the left field wall.
Castle was thrown out at second to end the rally.
However, senior All-American Becky McMurtry would complete the rally in the top of the seventh when she ripped a bouncing single up the middle of the infield to score pinch runner Tiffany Hebert with the winning run and a 3-2 lead. Hebert was running for Crystal George who had reached two batters before on a fielding error by Cowgirls shortstop Stephanie Denham.
The RBI single for McMurtry was her second game-winning RBI of the night as she hit a two-RBI double in game one to give the Cajuns a 2-0 lead in a game they eventually won 4-0.
McMurtry ended game two 3-for-3 with one RBI and one run and increased her season batting average to .421 heading into the final weekend of the season.
Mitchell (19-5) picked up her second win of the twinbill as she tossed 5 2/3 innings of relief after senior pitcher and game two starter Michael Parrott ran into trouble in the second inning after walking two batters.
Mitchell struck out five batters in the nightcap and combined with her 13 in the first game ended the night with 18 strikeouts.
McMurtry finished the twinbill 4-for-6 with three RBI – all game-winning ones.
The Cowgirls scored their two runs, both charged to Parrott and unearned, on back-to-back fisted bloop singles to center field and left field in the bottom of the second after Parrott was relieved by Mitchell.
In the first game of the twinbill Louisiana-Lafayette broke open a pitcher's duel between Mitchell and MSU starter Corrie Hale with two runs off of two hits.
Natalie Hamby, the second batter of the third inning, broke up Hale's no-hit bid with an infield single. After a George pop up to third base, Hamby stole second and then Jill Robertson drew a walk.
McMurtry fought off several pitches before leaning out over the plate and stabbing a hard grounder past Cowgirls shortstop Denham for a two-RBI double deep into left center field and a 2-0 Cajuns lead.
That lead would grow to 4-0 two innings later when Gomez lifted the historic home run over the left center field wall between the scoreboard and a light pole. Gomez's homer scored Robertson, who had drawn her second walk of the game two batters before, with her second run of the game.
The Metairie native has now hit a school single-season best 17 home runs as a freshman. She breaks the previous single-season mark of 16 set by former All-American and USA Softball Elite Team member Alana Addison just last season. The two RBI increased her season total to 50.
Mitchell (18-5), who tossed a perfect game in the season opener against Louisiana Tech and a seven-inning no-hitter against Southern Mississippi March 9, threw her third no-hitter of the season.
The Pasadena, Texas, native struck out 13 batters for her sixth double-digit strikeout performance of the season. She allowed just one baserunner – a walk issued in the fifth inning to Mandi Salter.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
