University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
North Texas
Cajuns Sweep Mean Green With 9-0 Win
5/2/2010 3:02:00 PM | Softball
Louisiana's Ragin Cajuns softball team took full advantage of five North Texas errors to cruise to a 9-0, run-rule victory and a series sweep on Sunday afternoon at Lamson Park. UL's bats also played an effective role, scattering eight hits on the afternoon but only two of the Cajuns' nine runs were earned.
The Cajuns are now 36-15 and 17-4 in the Sun Belt. North Texas drops to 26-17 and 14-7 in the league.
The Cajuns had a chance to jump on the Mean Green early in the first inning. With two outs, North Texas' Ashley Lail walked three consecutive Cajun batters on 13 pitches. But a pop-fly to second base ended UL's chances.
For the second straight inning, UL was able to load the bases. Britni Soria reached on a single and moved to third after Kelly Cormier advanced to second on an error by the North Texas. A one-out, single by Gaspard put the Cajuns in prime position. Melissa Verde then ripped a fielder's choice to second base but the Mean Green's Courtney Bradshaw dropped the ball at the play at the plate as Soria scored the Cajuns' first run. North Texas tried to make a play at third after the ball got behind the plate, but another dropped ball by the Mean Green let Cormier cross the plate.
UL then pulled off a double steal with Christi Orgeron taking second as the Gaspard beat the cutoff throw to back to the plate for the early 3-0 advantage.
The Cajuns dodged a bullet in the top of the third. A passed ball and two singles loaded the bases for North Texas with one out. But UL's defense held strong and made two outs without allowing North Texas to score.
The runs kept coming for the Cajuns in the third inning. Back-to-back singles by Lana Bowers and Nerissa Myers put runners on the corners. A RBI-ground out by Britni Soria let Bowers score. Cormier drew a walk to move Myers to second. Erikka Murphy then singled to score Myers. On the play, North Texas tried to make a throw from home plate to second but the throw sailed high. Cormier scored on the error and Myers was able to score all the way from first.
For the fourth straight inning, UL would put runners in scoring position on a walk, a hit and another Mean Green error. Facing a 0-2 count and two outs, Murphy battled pitch after pitch to finally draw a RBI-walk. Gaspard tacked on an insurance run with an RBI-single and a 9-0lead after four innings of play.
Donna Bourgeois grabbed the shutout win to improve to 19-9. She allowed just three hits and struck out five without allowing a walk.
Six Cajuns accounted for UL's eight hits. Gaspard let the way with three hits and one RBI.
Louisiana will play its final series of the season starting on Saturday, May 8 at Lamson Park against Louisiana-Monroe. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is set for 2 p.m. CT.
