University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Nicholls State
Cajuns Stumble in Nightcap to Split Twinbill
4/6/2007 5:00:00 AM | Softball
Freshman Brittany Cuevas posted a season-high 12 strikeouts cruising through the Nicholls lineup in game 1. She held the Colonels to three hits over seven innings.
Holly Tankersley led the Cajuns (7-1) with two RBI with both of them coming in a two-run first inning that staked the Cajuns to an early 2-0 lead.
Codi Runyan and Lacey Bertucci were both hit by a pitch with one out and then Melissa Verde drew a walk off Nicholls starter Krystalin Ensminger. Tankersley stepped up and ripped a single though the middle of the infield to plate Runyan and pinch runner Courtney Trahan for a quick 2-0 lead.
Cuevas worked around a leadoff single by the Colonels Kat Harrell and began to take control in the second inning. She struck out the side in the second frame and proceeded to hold Nicholls without a hit through the fifth inning.
UL began to pull away in the middle frames getting one run in the third and an additional two in the fourth inning.
Bertucci started the fourth with a single though the left side. Verde then drew her second walk of the game advancing Bertucci to second base. Tankersley hit a grounder to shortstop forcing Verde out at second base and then the relay throw to first base got away from Amy Thibodeaux allowing Bertucci to score from third base for a 3-0 lead.
Lana Bowers was hit by an Ensminger offering and moved to second on a passed ball. Karli Hubbard walked and another passed ball advanced Bowers to third and Hubbard to second base.
Vallie Gaspard grounded out to Ensminger and as the throw was being made to first base Bowers broke toward home plate. Nicholls catcher dropped the ball Jacqueline Pacheco dropped the ball on the tag play of Bowers allowing her to score making it 4-0.
Runyan then grounded out to second base to score Hubbard from third base giving UL a 5-0 advantage.
A Bertucci RBI single in the sixth inning plated the Cajuns' final run of the opener.
For all intents and purposes Cuevas went through the game without a blemish. The only run Nicholls scored was on a Kodi Butler double in the fifth inning that scored Rachel who had reached base on a Runyan error to start the inning.
Cuevas improved to 4-0 with the victory and the Cajuns ran their season-opening win streak to seven games.
The Cajuns' streak came to a close in the nightcap as the Colonels scored six runs on nine hits off of Tankersley to post a 6-1 victory of their own.
The Colonels took advantage of a pair of infield singles and a single into shallow right field to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the first inning. Thibodeaux then plated two runs when she singled up the middle.
Tankersley settled down and held the Colonels to two singles in the second and third innings.
The Ragin' Cajuns got one of the runs back in the fourth inning. A two-out single to left field by Bertucci gave UL its first hit of the night. Tankersley then hit a chopped an infield single that was fielded by Pacheco.
The throw, which wasn't necessary as Tankersley was a few short steps away from the bag before the ball was picked up, sailed high out of the reach of first baseman Gabby Lemaire allowing pinch runner Courtney Trahan to motor all the way home to score cutting the Nicholls lead to 2-1.
Just when the Cajuns drew one run closer, the Colonels posted four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to set up the final margin.
A one-out double by Leah Bland coupled with an infield single by Harrell and an error which allowed Butler to reach base quickly loaded the bases. The flood gates opened when Leah Peterson laced a triple into the right field corner to clear the bases and increase the Nicholls lead to 5-1.
Cuevas relieved Tankersley in the circle and put the clamps down on the Colonels offense. She retired eight consecutive Nicholls batters in relief.
The Cajuns offense couldn't muster a comeback, though, as
The Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Friday, Feb. 16 as they begin play in the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational at Alfred and Helen Lamson Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park. UL will meet
The Ragin' Cajuns Invitational will run Friday-Sunday, Feb. 16-18 at
