University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Oregon
Cajuns Split on Day Two at Citrus Classic
3/5/2011 10:30:00 PM | Softball
The 17th ranked Ragin' Cajuns split two games on Saturday at the Citrus Classic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.
UL (17-2) lost its first game, 5-2, to No.13 Oregon and then rebounded to top Temple 18-3 in the second game.
On the day, Christi Orgeron extended her hitting streak to 19 games and hit two home runs. Erikka Murphy also had four hits while Orgeron, Gabriele Bridges and Nerissa Myers all had five RBI.
GAME ONE
The Cajuns suffered their first set back of the weekend as they fell to No.13 Oregon 5-2 to open play on Saturday. The Cajuns held a 2-1 lead entering the seventh inning, but gave up four runs in the top of the frame and fell to the Ducks (16-3).
The loss was the first of the season for Ashley Brignac (7-1) who gave up five runs, three earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts. At the plate, Erikka Murphy and Gabriele Bridges each had two hits for the Cajuns.
After Brignac went through the Ducks in order in the top of the first inning, the Cajuns got on board in the bottom of the frame to take the early lead. Erikka Murphy got things started with a one-out single. She then advanced to third on a stolen base coupled with an Oregon error, and scored on a Gabriele Bridges RBI single.
Before the inning was over, Christi Orgeron extended her hitting streak to 18 games, but the Cajuns were unable to add to the single score when Bridges was thrown out at home on a double steal attempt.
The Ducks would get the run back in the second inning as the Cajuns would surrender their first home run of the season, a solo shot by Kaitlin Vitek to tie the game at 1-1.
UL would retake the lead in the third after Katie Smith led off the inning with a single. After she stole second base, Smith scored thanks to a Murphy single and the Ducks' third error in as many innings, giving the Cajuns a 2-1 lead.
Oregon led off the seventh inning with two singles, then advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. A one-out walk loaded the bases and then a fielder's choice allowed the tying run to score, making a 2-2 game.
A single through the left side then put Oregon on top 3-2. Another single scored two more for the Ducks and put them up 5-2 before the Cajuns could get out of the inning.
GAME TWO
The Cajuns rebounded nicely in game two as they defeated the Temple Owls (3-6) by a final score of 18-3 in five innings to close out their day.
Christina Hamilton (5-1) got the start for UL and threw three innings with just two hits, but two runs with four strikeouts. Shelbee Rodgers came on for the final two innings and gave up one run in relief.
At the plate for the Cajuns, Myers, Murphy, Orgeron and Smith all had multiple hits, while Myers and Orgeron had five RBI each and Bridges had four. Orgeron hit two home runs for the Cajuns in the game.
The Cajuns took advantage of some free passes in the second inning to plate five runs. Megan Granger, Paige Cormier and Natalie Fernandez all walked to load the bases, and with one out, Nerissa Myers brought them all home with a three-RBI double.
After Murphy hit a single and advanced Myers to third, Myers scored thanks to an errant throw on a double steal attempt to give the Cajuns a 4-0 lead. Murphy would then score on and RBI single by Orgeron that extended her hitting streak to 19 games, and giving her at least one RBI in 16 of those 19 games.
Temple would get two of those runs back in the top of the third inning thanks to a two-run homer, only the second long ball allowed by the Cajuns this season.
UL would add to its lead in the bottom of the third inning. A walk to Cormier, followed by singles from Draheim and Katie Smith loaded the bases up with one out. Myers then drew a walk to plate the first run of the inning. A Murphy infield single coupled with a Temple error allowed two more runs to score and left two runners on base for Orgeron.
The junior right fielder then delivered her second home run in as many days, this one a three-run shot that gave UL an 11-2 lead. In all, the Cajuns sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring six runs, on five hits with one Temple error.
UL added seven more runs in the fourth inning with four of them coming on one swing of the bat from Bridges. After three singles and a fielder's choice scored one run and left the bases loaded, Bridges hit her first home run on the road this season to clear the bases and give UL a 16-2 lead. The long ball was the tenth of the season for Bridges.
Orgeron then came up and made it back-to-back homers with her second of the game. The Cajuns then delivered their third dinger of the inning as Granger hit her first career long ball to extend the lead to 18-2.
The Owls added one run in the fifth to make the final score of 18-3.
The Cajuns will close out the Citrus Classic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports on Sunday when they take on Long Island at 10:30 a.m. CT.
