University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
ULM
Cajuns Sweep ULM, Extend Win Streak to 13 Games
2/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004
UL Monroe (3-14) kept the Cajuns scoreless for the first four innings of the game – as opposed to the 20 runs allowed in the four innings that the Cajuns batted in the opener of the twinbill.
Sarah Freeman held the Cajuns (15-1) at bay scattering four hits and stranding six runners.
UL Lafayette standout pitcher Brooke Mitchell was equal to the task, continuing her dominance of the Indians as she ended the game with 15 strikeouts and just one hit allowed as she picked up her 11th victory of the season.
Pinch hitter Tiffany Grayson, playing in just her second game of the season after sitting out the first 14 games recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, had the biggest hit of the game for the Cajuns when she drove a fly ball to straightaway center over the wall for a three-run home run in the sixth inning that gave the Cajuns a 7-0 lead.
ULM's lone hit of the game, and the doubleheader, came in the third inning when Katie Ferrrell lifted a single into shallow center field.
With the win, UL Lafayette won its 13th straight game since dropping a 4-1 decision to Georgia Tech on Sunday, Feb. 8.
Louisiana-Lafayette extended its home winning streak to 33 games and played its final home game until Tuesday, March 16 when Texas State-San Marcos provides the opposition for a 3 p.m. doubleheader.
For UL Monroe it was the team's ninth straight defeat.
The Cajuns would break through the scoreless tie in the fifth inning when Freeman lost control and the defense made some key mistakes.
UL Lafayette's first two batters would draw a walk as Tiffany Hebert and Holly Tankersley were both issued free passes.
ULM head coach Rosemary Holloway decided on a pitching change and brought in Niki Bethurum in relief.
Danyele Gomez welcomed the reliever by dumping a single into left field to bring Hebert around third for the first run of the game and a 1-0 lead. ULM left fielder Heather Williams overran the ball for the first of two errors she would make in the inning, allowing Gomez to move to second and Tankersley to third.
After Tankersley was thrown out a home trying to score on a passed ball following a strikeout of Lacey Bertucci, Ashley Evans hit a line drive right at Williams for what could have been the second out, but she misplayed the ball for her second error allowing both Gomez and pinch runner Michelle Bergeaux to score to make it 3-0 Cajuns.
Evans would advance to second and later move to third on a bunt single from Hillary Guidry.
Evans scored the Cajuns fourth run of the fifth inning when Brittany Bryant hit a sacrifice fly to the wall in right field.
Grayson's home run capped off the Cajuns offense in the sixth and Mitchell struck out the final two batters in the seventh to wrap up the win for UL Lafayette.
The Cajuns return to action on Friday, Feb. 27 as they open play in the McNeese State Cowgirl Classic in Lake Charles. UL Lafayette faces Nevada at 1:15 p.m. and host-McNeese State at 3:30 p.m.
GAME ONE
No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette batted around in two separate innings, pounded out 14 hits and received a combined perfect game from pitchers Brooke Mitchell and Heather Bobbitt in a 20-0 run-rule rout of in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe here Wednesday afternoon at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park.
UL Lafayette (14-1) batted around in the first and fourth innings en route to scoring the most runs under head coach Stefni Lotief and the most since putting up 35 on Southern University on March 30, 2000.
It's the largest shutout victory since the Cajuns posted a 22-0 win over Centenary on April 17, 2000.
Mitchell and Bobbitt combined for the perfect game as Louisiana-Lafayette extended its season-high win streak to 12 games and its home win streak to 32.
Mitchell struck out the side in the first inning while Bobbitt fanned eight over the game's final four innings.
The Cajuns clubbed four home runs, had one double and two triples in its 14-hit attack that suffocated the Indians (3-13).
Lacey Bertucci led the Cajuns offense going 2-for-4 with a game-high six RBI. She had a grand slam in the Cajuns seven-run, fourth inning.
ULM starting pitcher Nicole Bethurum walked the Cajuns first three batters and the rest was history as the Cajuns cruised to nine runs in a first inning that took 46 minutes to complete.
Tiffany Hebert, Holly Tankersley and Danyele Gomez each drew a walk from Bethurum who was lifted for Danielle Lahr after she showed no signs of being able to locate the strike zone.
Bertucci greeted Lahr with a line drive single into left field to score Hebert and Tankersley for her first two RBI of the game and a 2-0 lead.
An RBI single from Leslie Pierce, a sacrifice fly RBI by Brittany Bryant and a triple from Joy Webre that scored Pierce from first made it 5-0.
Back-to-back home runs by Crystal George and Tiffany Hebert pushed the lead to 8-0.
Hebert's home run, a solo shot that fell into the left field bleacher, was the first of her career.
Just when things couldn't get any worse for the Indians, center fielder Kristen Baker dropped a fly ball off the bat of Gomez on what would have been the third out allowing Tankersley, who drew a walk on her second at bat of the inning, to score for a 9-0 margin.
Louisiana-Lafayette added one run in the second and three more in the third before a seven spot in the fourth inning pushed the run total to 20.
A grand slam home run from Bertucci highlighted the fourth inning and was the Cajuns fourth home run of the game as the team's season total to 29 through 15 games.
ULM sent 15 batters to the plate and none reached base as Mitchell and Bobbitt combined for a no-hitter for the second time this season.
The shutout increased the Cajuns streak without an earned run allowed to 51 innings dating back to the sixth inning of game one of a doubleheader Wednesday, Feb. 18 at Nicholls State.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
