University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Maine
Cajuns Post Two Shutout Victories
2/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The 16th ranked Ragin' Cajuns softball team pitched its third and fourth consecutive shutouts on day two of the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational, defeating Maine, 9-0, and Stephen F. Austin, 7-0.
Christina Hamilton and Ashley Brignac each threw complete game shutouts as the Cajuns improved to 9-0, having outscored their opponents 126-2 thus far in 2011.
UL posted 22 hits on the day while giving up just six.
GAME ONE
UL played just its second seven inning game of the season as they blanked Maine (1-3) by a final score of 9-0 to open up their second Saturday of the young 2011 season. The Cajuns went scoreless in the first two innings, but then scored in every inning thereafter.
The Cajuns pounded out 13 hits while UL starter Christina Hamilton (3-0) allowed just three in a complete game shutout.
Hamilton has now thrown 17.0 innings in her young collegiate career without allowing a run. She struck out seven while walking just two.
A fellow freshman, Natalie Fernandez continued to get on base for the Cajuns as she went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Christi Orgeron and Taryn Broussard each had two hits for UL.
The Cajuns got one hit in the both the first and second innings, but they couldn't scratch across a run until the third when the Cajuns used three walks to help plate their first run of the contest.
With one out, Fernandez, batting second in the line-up, placed a single over the shortstops head and into centerfield. Fernandez stole second but a pop out gave the Cajuns two outs. After Gabriele Bridges and Broussard each drew walks to load the bases, Sarah Draheim had a quality at bat that produced the first run of the game.
After getting in a 0-2 hole, Draheim saw nine pitches and ultimately drew a walk to bring Fernandez home and give UL a 1-0 lead.
The Cajuns added another run in the fourth inning with some small ball. Erikka Murphy led off the frame with an infield single, advanced to second on a sacrifice and to third on a ground out.
With two down, Fernandez delivered the Cajuns second infield single of the inning, this one giving the freshman second baseman an RBI and UL a 2-0 lead.
UL would bring two more runners home in the fifth inning thanks to some clutch two out hitting. After two quick ground outs, the Cajuns used three singles and a hit batter to plate two more runs. Jennifer Martin and Katie Smith each picked up RBIs to extend the UL lead to 4-0.
The Cajuns added another in the fifth as Broussard ripped an RBI down to right field, scoring Orgeron and giving UL a 5-0 lead.
UL scored for the fifth consecutive inning when they plated four on one Orgeron swing of the bat in the seventh inning. With the bases juiced thanks to two singles and a Black Bear error, Orgeron hit her first home run of the season and extended her RBI total to 18 and the Cajuns lead to 9-0.
GAME TWO
The Cajuns pitched their fourth consecutive shutout in game two of the afternoon, taking a 7-0 contest from Stephen F. Austin.
Ashley Brignac (3-0) went the distance for UL, giving up just three hits with 12 strikeouts and just one walk.
Bridges and Murphy each had two hits for the Cajuns who hit nine as a team.
The Cajuns wasted no team taking the lead against the Ladyjacks (1-8) as Nerissa Myers reached based on an infield single then stole second base. Two illegal pitches by SFA starter Monika Covington (0-4) then allowed Myers to score giving the Cajuns a 1-0 lead.
UL would add a single run in the second inning as well as Draheim hit her second home run of the season, a solo shot over the right center field fence.
The Cajuns would scratch across one more in the third when Orgeron hit a double to right field, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on another illegal pitch by Covington.
UL would go scoreless in the fourth but put three runs on the board in the fifth with one swing of the bat from Broussard. With two outs, Orgeron reached on a walk and Bridges reach on a single, setting the scene for Broussard.
The Lake Jackson, Texas native proceeded to hit a ball off of the top of the scoreboard in the right field, giving UL a 6-0 lead and giving Broussard her fourth home run of the weekend.
The Cajuns would tack on another run in the sixth inning when Murphy reached on an infield single, stole second base, advanced to third on a ground out then scored on a wild pitch. The single score increased UL's lead to 7-0.
The Cajuns will return to action on Sunday when they close out the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational with a 12:30 p.m. match-up against Tennessee State. The Cajuns defeated the Tigers on Friday by a final score of 19-0.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
