University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
No. 6 California State - Fullerton
Mitchell Shuts Down Titans, Cajuns Take 1-0 Win and Advance to Winner's Bracket Final
5/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Friday, May 16, 2003
FULLERTON, Calif. – Going into the NCAA Regionals the Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball coaching staff said it would take a couple of breaks in the Cajuns favor to go along with solid pitching and defense in order to reach the team's ultimate goal of another trip to the Women's College World Series.
No. 21 UL Lafayette received its first break, or bounce in their favor, here Friday afternoon as a high fly ball off the bat of senior first baseman Summar Lapeyrouse was overrun by Cal State Fullerton left fielder Julie Watson and landed just inches inside the left field foul line allowing Brittany Bryant to round second base with the lone and game-winning run in a 1-0 Cajuns win over top seed CSF here at the Titan Softball Complex in the first game of the winner's bracket in NCAA Regional No. 6.
The
two-out fielding error by Watson provided the
fourth-seeded Cajuns (45-8) with the one run that
sophomore ace pitcher and 2003 Sun Belt Conference
Pitcher of the Year Brooke Mitchell would need as she
handcuffed the host-Titans to just two hits and tossed
her second straight complete-game shutout and third in
her last four outings.
"I guess the biggest thing is just 'Wow.'," said Cajuns head coach Stefni Lotief on one of the biggest wins of her head coaching career. "I think that was an awesome game played well by both teams. An inch here, an inch there; this is a game of inches and thank god today the inches went our way."
Mitchell (24-6) fanned 12 of the 23 batters that she faced and in the process became the single-season strikeout record holder with her eighth strikeout of the game which just so happened to be at the expense of CSF power-hitter, Big West Conference Player of the Year and Olympian Jenny Topping who entered the game with a .438 batting average.
Mitchell increased her season strikeout total to 261 which eclipses the old record of 256 set by Cheryl Longeway during the 1995 season – a season in which the Cajuns advanced to the WCWS.
Mitchell has now gone 14 innings in the eight-team tournament and has surrendered just two hits and struck out 18 batters and walked none.
The win over the sixth-ranked (NFCA Top 25) Titans was her second shutout win over a Top 25 team this season (defeated Alabama 2-0 on March 27). In three starts against a ranked team this season she has not allowed an earned run in 20 innings (Oklahoma, Alabama and CSF).
The Pasadena, Texas, native extended her streak of consecutive innings without an earned run allowed to 34 2/3 innings and lowered her team-best and nationally ranked earned run average to a miniscule 0.79. She has now gone five straight starts without an earned run allowed.
With the win the Cajuns move to 2-0 in NCAA Regional play for the first time since the 1999 season when then-USL marched its way to Sunday play unscathed.
This is the first time under head coach Stefni Lotief that a team she has coached has opened NCAA Tournament play with a 2-0 mark.
Louisiana-Lafayette will now await the winner of Friday's third game between No. 2 seed Oklahoma State (38-13) and No. 3 seed Oregon (33-17) for a 3:30 p.m. (CDT) winner's bracket final. CSF falls into the loser's bracket and will play Penn State in an elimination game Friday at 9 p.m. (CDT).
Saturday's game will be carried live on KPEL 105.1 FM, not SportsRadio 1420-KPEL AM, with Jay Walker providing all of the action live beginning 15 minutes prior to the first pitch. The Cajuns baseball game will be on 1420-AM.
After going hitless in the top of the first the Cajuns finally broke through in the top of the second when Bryant ripped a one-out double to left center field. It was the Beaumont, Texas, native's third double of the season.
On the next at bat, CSF starter Gina Oaks appeared to work around the leadoff double and strand Bryant after she induced a grounder by Lauren Castle and checked Bryant at second base before throwing out Castle at first.
But on the very next at bat, Bryant advanced to third on a passed ball and Lapeyrouse then hit a fly ball to left field that was misplayed by Watson allowing Bryant to score the winning run.
Watson may have thought that the ball was going to land foul but at the last second it sliced back into fair territory and Bryant was heads up on the basepath to score the run.
The Cajuns had a chance to further extend the lead in the third inning but left senior All-American Becky McMurtry (hit-by-pitch) and Danyele Gomez (reached on an error) stranded as Joy Webre and Tiffany Grayson struck out to end the threat.
CSF broke Mitchell's no-hit string in the bottom half of the first on a Topping bloop single into left field but never threatened again until the sixth inning. Mitchell would retire 15 batters in a row until Heather Saltarelli picked up a two-out single.
Mitchell struck out the side in the third inning and the first two in the fourth to strikeout five straight Titan hitters at one point.
Mitchell retired the side in order in the seventh inning getting Topping to pop out at second, Jodie Cox to fly out to center field and Amanda Hockett to go down on strikes looking to complete one of the biggest NCAA Regional wins in recent history.
Mitchell took the win for UL Lafayette and improved 24-6. Oaks suffered the hard-luck loss and fell to 19-7 on the season. Oaks was head-to-head with Mitchell as she struck out 12 batters as well.
The key difference was in the errors department. UL Lafayette had none while the Titans had two.
The Cajuns picked up their eighth straight victory overall and 30th in the last 33 games. UL Lafayette has now played 17 straight games away from home since April 17 and the Cajuns have posted a 14-3 mark during that span.
The shutout was the Cajuns 26th this season as a team and the 10th for Mitchell.
Louisiana-Lafayette is now just two wins away from its fourth trip to the Women's College World Series.
UL Lafayette will return to action on Saturday in the finals of the winner's bracket against either Oregon or Oklahoma State in a 3:30 p.m. (CDT) game.
Should the Cajuns win they would advance to Sunday's championship game at 3 p.m. (CDT). A loss Saturday would send the Cajuns into an elimination game at 6 p.m. (CDT).
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
