ULM Upsets Louisiana in Round 1

DENTON, Texas-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team had their 14-game hitting streak snapped as they dropped a 1-0 decision to the ULM Warhawks in the first round of the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

The loss was just the third in Cajuns history at the conference tournament.

The Cajuns were hurt by the lack of timely hitting. The Ragin' Cajuns left nine batters stranded, including four batters in scoring position.

Despite the loss, sophomore pitcher Donna Bourgeois pitched a gem. She worked a complete game, tossing 7.0 innings allowing just one run on two hits. Bourgeois struck out 11 batters in the game, marking the 12th time this season she has fanned double-digit batters. The sophomore retired the first 12 batters she faced before surrendering a base hit.

Offensively, Louisiana mustered only three hits, led by Vallie Gaspard who finished the game 2-for-3 with a pair of infield hits and a walk. Codi Runyan had the only other hit for the Cajuns as she singled up the middle in the bottom of the fourth inning. Karli Hubbard had a pair of sacrifice bunts and Melissa Verde had a pair of walks.

The Cajuns threatened in the bottom of the fourth inning. Runyan led off the inning with a single up the middle and Courtney Trahan entered the game to run for Runyan. Trahan moved to second on a walk by Christi Orgeron. An infield fly recorded the first out and left the Cajuns with a pair of runners. A deep fly ball advanced Trahan to third and left the Cajuns with runners on the corners. A stolen base put both UL runners in scoring position and a second walk loaded the bases. With the bases loaded, ULM got the out the needed as a groundout ended the inning.

ULM took the lead in the top of the fifth inning, 1-0. The Warhawks got a leadoff single off of Bourgeois' glove from Megan Miller. Molly McNeill attempted to sacrifice the runner over to second, but after back-to-back fouls she found herself down 0-2 in the count. ULM tried to steal on the next pitch, but Lana Bowers threw out the runner for the first out of the inning. With no one on base, McNeill swung away at the next pitch and hit a home run over the left field fence to give ULM a 1-0 lead. Bourgeois struck out the next two batters to end the inning but the Cajuns trailed for the first time of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Neither team was able to generate a run for the final two and a half innings as the score remained 1-0 in favor of ULM.

The Ragin' Cajuns continue the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a game against tournament-host North Texas at 10:00 a.m.

-www.RaginCajuns.com-

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

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