University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Arizona
Cajuns eliminated from bracket play
3/18/2007 4:00:00 AM | Softball
FULLERTON, Calif. ? Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team, ranked 17th in the country, was eliminated from Championship Bracket play here at the Judi Garman Classic on Sunday morning, dropping a 9-0 semifinal decision to No. 5 Arizona.
Arizona freshman designated player Sarah Akamine hit two grand slam home runs ? her first two round trippers of her college career ? in leading the Wildcats (21-6) to the win.
Wildcats pitcher Taryne Mowatt, checked the high powered Cajuns offense on two hits, in pitching the complete game shutout and improving her overall record to 15-6. Mowatt fanned UL 14 times out of the 27 batters that she faced.
Codi Runyan singled off of Mowatt in the Cajun half of the second inning and Lacey Bertucci added a sixth inning single.
UL pitcher, Brittany Cuevas, dropped to 17-4 overall for the season after pitching the complete game. Cuevas was charged with eight earned runs over seven innings and allowed 10 base hits. Cuevas did manage to record eight strikeouts.
Louisiana-Lafayette is now 28-7 overall for the 2007 season, and 6-3 against teams ranked in the top 25. Michael and Stefni Lotief's Ragin' Cajuns ended the Judi Garman Classic with a 4-1 record and had their seven-game winning streak snapped.
After the Wildcats scored a single run in the top half of the first to take a 1-0 lead, Caitlin Lowe led off the Arizona half of the third with a double. Chelsie Mesa followed with a bunt single and Kristie Fox walked loading the bases.
Akamine followed with her first of two grand slams in the game and Arizona led 5-0 after 2 1/2 innings of play.
Cuevas settled down following the Akamine blast and retired the next 13 Wildcats hitters she faced before running into more trouble in the top of the seventh, when Akamine struck again with her second slam of the day giving her team a 9-0 lead.
The Cajuns return to Lafayette following their successful trip to California and finishing with a 4-1 record in the prestigious event with wins over Fresno State, #2 Arizona State, Notre Dame and Penn State.
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns return to action at home on Thursday night for a single game against Southern Mississippi at Alfred and Helen Lamson Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park. First pitch against USM is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Following the USM contest the Cajuns will entertain Western Kentucky over the weekend in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. The WKU series will run Saturday-Sunday, March 24-25 at Lamson Park.
