University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Run-Rule FIU in Series Finale, Complete Series Sweep
4/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MIAMI – The 14th-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team pushed across four runs in the first inning and never looked back in handing Florida International a 9-0 mercy-rule defeat in game two of a Sunday doubleheader which clinched the Cajuns first-ever sweep of FIU in Miami.
No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette (32-7, 8-0 Sun Belt) got three RBI from freshman Codi Runyan and two apiece from Danyele Gomez and Tara Hamilton.
Heather Bobbitt (8-0) pitched all five innings striking out three and scattering five hits to post her second complete game shutout and the Ragin' Cajuns 23rd shutout of the 2005 season.
Reigning Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week Tiffany Ore was charged with seven earned runs as Louisiana-Lafayette touched her for nine total runs and eight hits over five innings.
The win extended the Cajuns overall season win streak to 10 games and the program's school-record Sun Belt Conference regular season winning streak to 29 straight games. Louisiana-Lafayette has not lost a Sun Belt game since falling 3-2 in eight innings against Western Kentucky on May 3, 2003.
The four-game sweep - a first in program history at FIU's University Softball Field - guaranteed the Cajuns of at least a one-game lead depending on Western Kentucky's Sunday results against New Mexico State (WKU entered Sunday at 5-1 in Sun Belt play). The sweep gave the Cajuns a four-game cushion over FIU (26-20, 4-4 Sun Belt) in the race for the 2005 regular season title.
The win allowed Louisiana-Lafayette to pick up program victory No. 999 (999-299 all-time) and move within one victory of the 1,000th win in program history.
Jill Robertson jumpstarted the Cajuns with a leadoff double and Danyele Gomez ignited the rout with her third home run of the weekend off of Ore when she lofted a towering shot over the right field fence for an early 2-0 lead. Louisiana-Lafayette used some of its two-out magic to score two more. Lacey Bertucci drew a two-out walk which was followed by back-to-back doubles, one from Crystal George and another from Tara Hamilton. Hamilton's, a shot down the left field line, scored Bertucci and George and made it 4-0.
Tiffany Hebert singled through the left side of the infield to start the second inning and later scored when FIU catcher Jennifer Powell attempted a pickoff at first base and her throw was out of the reach of first baseman Brooke Ruiz.
The Cajuns lead reached 7-0 in the third inning on a Codi Runyan RBI single. Runyan's hit followed back-to-back walks that Ore issued to Bertucci and George. The second run of the inning scored on a bases loaded grounder from Gomez which FIU second baseman Lindsay Tippings couldn't handle allowing George to score for a 7-0 lead.
Codi Runyan finished off the scoring with her second career home run in the top of the fifth inning. The two-run home run pushed the lead past the mandatory eight run margin needed for the run-rule victory.
Bobbitt worked around two FIU innings in which the Golden Panthers put two runners on with no outs. Both times, in the third and fifth innings, the sophomore pitcher from Vidor, Texas, retired the next three batters in succession to finish off the Golden Panthers.
Both Runyan and Robertson led the Cajuns with two hits apiece. Six of the Cajuns' nine starters collected at least one base hit.
No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette will be back in action on Wednesday, April 20 as the Cajuns travel to Monroe for a mid-week doubleheader with in-state rival and future Sun Belt Conference member Louisiana-Monroe at 4 p.m. The twinbill with the Indians precedes the Cajuns next Sun Belt weekend series against North Texas to be held Saturday-Sunday, April 23-24 in Lafayette at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park.
Louisiana-Lafayette 9, FIU 0
(Apr 17, 2005 at Miami, Fla.) (Game 2)
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Louisiana-Lafayette. 412 02 - 9 8 0 (32-7, 8-0 SUN BELT)
Fla. International.. 000 00 - 0 5 2 (26-20, 4-4 SUN BELT)
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Pitchers: Louisiana-Lafayette - Bobbitt. Fla. International
- Ore.
Win-Bobbitt(8-0) Loss-Ore(8-7) T-1:31 A-135
HR UL - Gomez; Runyan.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
