University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Sunday, April 18
Lafayette
12 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
34-7, 16-2
8
vs
0
Texas State
27-8, 9-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Louisiana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
Ellyson Shines and Offense Closes Strong as Softball Claims Series
4/18/2021 4:23:00 PM | Softball
Ragin’ Cajuns shutout Texas State in rubber match, extend streak of consecutive Sun Belt series won
LAFAYETTE – No. 14 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball captured the series victory over Texas State after Summer Ellyson controlled the visiting Bobcats' offense and a flurry of runs in the final at bat led to an 8-0 (6 inn.) win on Sunday at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
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Ellyson (15-4, 2.35 ERA) struck out seven as she crafted a one-hit shutout of the Bobcats. The Ragin' Cajuns (34-7, 16-2 Sun Belt) managed to break free from a 1-0 affair in the sixth inning – and end the game by run rule – by sending nine batters to the plate and pushing across seven runs without a single out being recorded.
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With the win Louisiana kept alive its nation-leading streak of consecutive conference series won, claiming its 62nd consecutive Sun Belt Conference series victory dating back to March 2013.
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The Ragin' Cajuns assured themselves of remaining all alone atop the Sun Belt standings, maintaining a one-game lead over Troy in the loss column and stretching the lead over Texas State in the loss column to three games.
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Taking the series from the Bobcats (27-8, 9-5 Sun Belt) marked the second straight weekend that Louisiana claimed a series from one of the Sun Belt's former front-runners, following up a series sweep of Troy on the road from April 11-12.
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Louisiana immediately forced the issue and took hold of the lead in Sunday's winner-take-all series finale. Ciara Bryan led off with a walk, stole second base forcing an errant throw that moved her to third base, and scored on a Kaitlyn Alderink RBI single for a quick 1-0 edge.
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From the second through fifth innings, it was Ellyson and Texas State's Jessica Mullins swapping zeroes both having thrown less than 70 pitches in the contest at that point.
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The Bobcats lone threat to Ellyson came in the fourth inning when a leadoff single led to a sacrifice bunt that put the potential tying run in scoring position. The veteran righty stood her ground by retiring sluggers Tara Oltmann and Sara Vanderford consecutively, closing with a strikeout of Vanderford in a nine-pitch battle.
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With Mullins having retired 12 of the last 13 batters she faced entering the sixth inning, the Ragin' Cajuns turned to the bunt in an attempt to create a spark and avoid another empty frame. Melissa Mayeux laid down a perfectly placed bunt racing to the first base bag before it was fielded, and from there on the hitting became contagious.
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Bryan came up next and launched a towering two-run home run over the scoreboard in right field that opened a 3-0 lead. The blast jumpstarted the game-ending scoring spree that also included two-run singles from Julie Rawls and Karly Heath and lastly a walk-off squeeze bunt from Jenna Kean.
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DIAMOND NOTES
UP NEXT
No. 14 Louisiana remains at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and closes out its April homestand on Tuesday (April 20) with a 4 p.m. single game against Louisiana Tech. The meeting the Lady Techsters is a makeup for a contest originally scheduled for March 24 but was postponed by inclement weather.
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Live video coverage is available on ESPN+, and Ragin' Cajuns fans can also follow along on SportsRadio ESPN 1420-AM and at CajunStats.com.
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FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB) and Instagram (@Louisiana.SB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Softball.
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Ellyson (15-4, 2.35 ERA) struck out seven as she crafted a one-hit shutout of the Bobcats. The Ragin' Cajuns (34-7, 16-2 Sun Belt) managed to break free from a 1-0 affair in the sixth inning – and end the game by run rule – by sending nine batters to the plate and pushing across seven runs without a single out being recorded.
Â
With the win Louisiana kept alive its nation-leading streak of consecutive conference series won, claiming its 62nd consecutive Sun Belt Conference series victory dating back to March 2013.
Â
The Ragin' Cajuns assured themselves of remaining all alone atop the Sun Belt standings, maintaining a one-game lead over Troy in the loss column and stretching the lead over Texas State in the loss column to three games.
Â
Taking the series from the Bobcats (27-8, 9-5 Sun Belt) marked the second straight weekend that Louisiana claimed a series from one of the Sun Belt's former front-runners, following up a series sweep of Troy on the road from April 11-12.
Â
Louisiana immediately forced the issue and took hold of the lead in Sunday's winner-take-all series finale. Ciara Bryan led off with a walk, stole second base forcing an errant throw that moved her to third base, and scored on a Kaitlyn Alderink RBI single for a quick 1-0 edge.
Â
From the second through fifth innings, it was Ellyson and Texas State's Jessica Mullins swapping zeroes both having thrown less than 70 pitches in the contest at that point.
Â
The Bobcats lone threat to Ellyson came in the fourth inning when a leadoff single led to a sacrifice bunt that put the potential tying run in scoring position. The veteran righty stood her ground by retiring sluggers Tara Oltmann and Sara Vanderford consecutively, closing with a strikeout of Vanderford in a nine-pitch battle.
Â
With Mullins having retired 12 of the last 13 batters she faced entering the sixth inning, the Ragin' Cajuns turned to the bunt in an attempt to create a spark and avoid another empty frame. Melissa Mayeux laid down a perfectly placed bunt racing to the first base bag before it was fielded, and from there on the hitting became contagious.
Â
Bryan came up next and launched a towering two-run home run over the scoreboard in right field that opened a 3-0 lead. The blast jumpstarted the game-ending scoring spree that also included two-run singles from Julie Rawls and Karly Heath and lastly a walk-off squeeze bunt from Jenna Kean.
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DIAMOND NOTES
- Louisiana finished with a 5-1 mark in back-to-back Sun Belt series against the two teams, Troy and Texas State, who were previously undefeated in league play and leaders of the league standings following Easter Weekend (April 2-3).
- For the second time this season, and sixth time overall in the Gerry Glasco era, the Ragin' Cajuns claimed the rubber match of a Sun Belt Conference series to keep alive their nation-leading string of consecutive conference series won.
- In 2018, Louisiana defeated Coastal Carolina, Texas State, Georgia Southern and UT Arlington with the series on the line, and did the same previously this season at UTA on March 21.
- The walk-off sequence in the sixth inning saw the Ragin' Cajuns string together seven consecutive hits in succession starting with Melissa Mayeux's leadoff bunt single.
- Ciara Bryan's stolen base in the first inning, that set up the game's first run, was her team-leading 23rd swipe of the 2021 season. It's the first 20-plus stolen base campaign of her collegiate career.
- With the RBI single in the first inning, Kaitlyn Alderink extended her current hitting streak to 10 games – her longest streak as a Ragin' Cajun.
- Julie Rawls' two-run single during the sixth-inning scoring barrage increased her season RBI total to 45, moving her four RBI within her career-high total and on the doorstep of the first 50 RBI campaign of her collegiate career.
- Julie Rawls, who for the season is hitting an astounding .462 with runners in scoring position, has generated a team-leading 21 RBI in the month of April.
- For the second straight game, Karly Heath recorded a multiple-RBI outing. Adding in her two solo home runs from Game 2 of the series, Heath finished the weekend with a team-high tying four RBI (matched Julie Rawls).
- Summer Ellyson did not yield a walk to the Bobcats and retired the visitors in order all but one inning. She began the game with nine consecutive batters retired, finishing the string with three consecutive strikeouts.
- Summer Ellyson worked 13 innings in the circle during the series and limited the Bobcats to three runs, allowed only nine hits, didn't issue a walk, and struck out 19. She held the Texas State offense to a .188 average.
- Sunday's triumph marked the 89th career victory for Summer Ellyson – the fifth-most recorded in program history – moving her within one of becoming only the fifth Ragin' Cajuns pitcher to reach 90 career victories.
- Louisiana posted a series victory over Texas State for the seventh time in as many tries since the Bobcats joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2014. The Ragin' Cajuns hold a 17-4 advantage in regular season SBC meetings.
- Louisiana improved to 40-7 all-time vs. Texas State which includes a 22-5 mark at Lamson Park.
UP NEXT
No. 14 Louisiana remains at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and closes out its April homestand on Tuesday (April 20) with a 4 p.m. single game against Louisiana Tech. The meeting the Lady Techsters is a makeup for a contest originally scheduled for March 24 but was postponed by inclement weather.
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Live video coverage is available on ESPN+, and Ragin' Cajuns fans can also follow along on SportsRadio ESPN 1420-AM and at CajunStats.com.
Â
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB) and Instagram (@Louisiana.SB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Softball.
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- www.RaginCajuns.com -
Players Mentioned
2B/3B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
C/OF
/ SoftballTeam Stats
Pitching:
W: Ellyson, Summer (15-4)
L: Mullins, Jessica (14-5)
Batting:
SH: Randolph, Piper 1
Batting:
2B: Alderink, Kaitlyn 1
HR: Bryan, Ciara 1
RBI: Bryan, Ciara 2 ; Alderink, Kaitlyn 1 ; Rawls, Julie 2 ; Heath, Karly 2 ; Kean, Jenna 1
SH: Kean, Jenna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bryan, Ciara 2 ; Alderink, Kaitlyn 1 ; Gortarez, Jade 1 ; Rawls, Julie 1 ; Boswell, Carrie 1 ; Talley, Kendall 1 ; Mayeux, Melissa 1
SB: Bryan, Ciara 1 ; Gortarez, Jade 1
CS: Gortarez, Jade 1
HBP: Talley, Kendall 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
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