University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Monday, May 22
Baton Rouge, La.
1 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
47-8
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at
5
LSU
45-19
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4
5
6
7
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Louisiana
1
0
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0
0
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7
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LSU
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5
9
0
Ragin' Cajuns Season Concludes at Baton Rouge Regional
5/22/2017 5:24:00 PM | Softball
BATON ROUGE – The season came to a close for 14th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball as No. 18 LSU posted a 5-1 victory in the winner-take-all finale of the NCAA Softball Baton Rouge Regional at Tiger Park.
LSU (45-19) advances to the NCAA Tallahassee Super Regional to face national No. 4 seed Florida State.
Louisiana (47-8) finished the season in the NCAA Tournament for the 19th consecutive season. The 2017 squad claimed the program's fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship, extended the string of 40-win seasons to 19 straight and had the program competing for an NCAA Regional championship for the 10th consecutive year.
"I'm never going to be disappointed in this group because they've always loved each other, they've always played hard and they've always given it everything they've had," Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball head coach Michael Lotief said. "Even until the last out, they were fighting.
"In a lot of ways, this year was supposed to be a rebuilding year," Lotief added. "These kids took us on a special ride and they made us believe they could do anything."
Haley Hayden led the Ragin' Cajuns on the day with two hits (2-for-3) to increase her career total to 277 which is the fifth-most recorded in program history.
DJ Sanders picked up her 42nd extra base hit of the season (13 doubles, 29 home runs) on a run-scoring double in the first inning which provided Louisiana an early lead.
Alex Stewart (27-5, 1.81 ERA) held the Tigers scoreless over their first two at bats. After a leadoff single from Amber Griggs in the bottom of the first, Stewart retired the next six LSU hitters.
The offense appeared to give her a larger lead when the first two hitters reached base in the third inning. Aleah Craighton was hit by a pitch and Hayden reached on an infield single. However, Carly Hoover used a strikeout and double play to escape a two on, no outs jam that she inherited from Allie Walljasper to hold the Ragin' Cajuns lead at 1-0.
The Tigers would plate two runs in the bottom of the third inning to pull in front. The tiebreaking run crossed home plate when Griggs singled home Aliyah Andrews.
Lexie Comeaux singled to lead off the top of the fourth, but Hoover was the beneficiary of a double play that took away a base runner for a two-out single to center field by Kassidy Zeringue.
LSU added three runs to the lead in the bottom of the fourth, starting with a two-run homer by Sydney Springfield that passed just inside the left field foul pole.
The three-run fourth increased the margin to 5-1 and Hoover, who scattered four hits over five innings of relief, was able to make the lead hold.
The Ragin' Cajuns did put pressure on Hoover down the stretch. There was at least one runner aboard the base path in each of the final three innings.
"Sometimes you fall short, but I've told them the measure is whether you've taken the risk and whether you're striving valiantly," Lotief remarked. "If you come up short, that's not how you're going to be labeled. You're going to be labeled by being in the arena and going for it."
The contest marked the final one as collegiate student-athletes for the Ragin' Cajuns nine seniors: Sarah Arceneaux, Victoria Brown, Haley Hayden, Kendall Smith, Macey Smith, Alex Stewart, Taylor Terrio, Kassidy Zeringue and Corin Voinche.
For more information on Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball, as well as all of Ragin' Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow along with the team on Facebook (/RaginCajunSoftball),Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsSoftball).
LSU (45-19) advances to the NCAA Tallahassee Super Regional to face national No. 4 seed Florida State.
Louisiana (47-8) finished the season in the NCAA Tournament for the 19th consecutive season. The 2017 squad claimed the program's fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship, extended the string of 40-win seasons to 19 straight and had the program competing for an NCAA Regional championship for the 10th consecutive year.
"I'm never going to be disappointed in this group because they've always loved each other, they've always played hard and they've always given it everything they've had," Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball head coach Michael Lotief said. "Even until the last out, they were fighting.
"In a lot of ways, this year was supposed to be a rebuilding year," Lotief added. "These kids took us on a special ride and they made us believe they could do anything."
Haley Hayden led the Ragin' Cajuns on the day with two hits (2-for-3) to increase her career total to 277 which is the fifth-most recorded in program history.
DJ Sanders picked up her 42nd extra base hit of the season (13 doubles, 29 home runs) on a run-scoring double in the first inning which provided Louisiana an early lead.
Alex Stewart (27-5, 1.81 ERA) held the Tigers scoreless over their first two at bats. After a leadoff single from Amber Griggs in the bottom of the first, Stewart retired the next six LSU hitters.
The offense appeared to give her a larger lead when the first two hitters reached base in the third inning. Aleah Craighton was hit by a pitch and Hayden reached on an infield single. However, Carly Hoover used a strikeout and double play to escape a two on, no outs jam that she inherited from Allie Walljasper to hold the Ragin' Cajuns lead at 1-0.
The Tigers would plate two runs in the bottom of the third inning to pull in front. The tiebreaking run crossed home plate when Griggs singled home Aliyah Andrews.
Lexie Comeaux singled to lead off the top of the fourth, but Hoover was the beneficiary of a double play that took away a base runner for a two-out single to center field by Kassidy Zeringue.
LSU added three runs to the lead in the bottom of the fourth, starting with a two-run homer by Sydney Springfield that passed just inside the left field foul pole.
The three-run fourth increased the margin to 5-1 and Hoover, who scattered four hits over five innings of relief, was able to make the lead hold.
The Ragin' Cajuns did put pressure on Hoover down the stretch. There was at least one runner aboard the base path in each of the final three innings.
"Sometimes you fall short, but I've told them the measure is whether you've taken the risk and whether you're striving valiantly," Lotief remarked. "If you come up short, that's not how you're going to be labeled. You're going to be labeled by being in the arena and going for it."
The contest marked the final one as collegiate student-athletes for the Ragin' Cajuns nine seniors: Sarah Arceneaux, Victoria Brown, Haley Hayden, Kendall Smith, Macey Smith, Alex Stewart, Taylor Terrio, Kassidy Zeringue and Corin Voinche.
For more information on Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball, as well as all of Ragin' Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow along with the team on Facebook (/RaginCajunSoftball),Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsSoftball).
#GeauxCajuns
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Carley Hoover (14-6)
L: Stewart, Alex (27-5)
Batting:
2B: Sanders, DJ 1
RBI: Sanders, DJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gremillion, Kara 1
HBP: Gremillion, Kara 1 ; Craighton, Aleah 1
Batting:
2B: Amber Serrett 1
HR: Sydney Springfield 1
RBI: Emily Griggs 2 ; Sydney Springfield 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Constance Quinn 1 ; Sydney Springfield 1 ; Amber Serrett 1 ; Sydney Loupe 1 ; Aliyah Andrews 1
SB: Constance Quinn 1 ; Aliyah Andrews 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball1B/OF
/ SoftballSS
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
2B
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