LAFAYETTE –The No. 24-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball team used a pick-me-up from the bench to capture a 3-1 win over ULM on Thursday, May 11 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
Knotted at 1-all since the second inning, Louisiana (44-13) inserted Jourdyn Campbell as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning after a leadoff walk from Maddie Hayden. Campbell promptly delivered a wall-banging triple to right field bringing home Hayden with the tiebreaking run.
The Ragin’ Cajuns got insurance in the very next at bat from another pinch hitter as Stormy Kotzelnick lined a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Campbell and make it 3-1.
From there Sam Landry (7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 7 K) would silence the Warhawks (25-32), retiring the side in order the final three innings.
The win advanced Louisiana to Friday’s semifinal round in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to face Texas State at 7:00 p.m.
The Ragin’ Cajuns extended their season-best winning streak to 10 games and claimed a Sun Belt Tournament-opening victory for the for the 13th straight time (dates back to 2010).
Landry opened the game with the first of what would be first of five three-up, three-down frames and Louisiana struck in its first at bat when Laney Credeur delivered a two-out RBI single up the middle.
The lone two hits that Landry would yield to the visiting Warhawks came in the top of the second, the latter an RBI double from Ashlan Ard that evened things at 1-apeice. A strong throw by Hayden off a grounder that hugged the third base line recorded the crucial second out and kept ULM from continuing to build momentum.
Campbell’s clutch triple kept ULM reliever Gianni Hulett, who took over in the second inning after the lineup turned over, from making one round through the Cajuns lineup unscathed.
Louisiana extended its Sun Belt Tournament win streak, which dates back to the 2019, to 12 games and recorded the program’s 70th all-time win in the event.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The No. 24-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns seek to claim a spot in the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game when they face off with Texas State (34-22-1) on Friday, May 12 in the 7:00 p.m. semifinal contest at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
Louisiana will look to make it a ninth straight trip to the SBC Tournament title game, having appeared in the finals each year since 2014.
The Texas State matchup will air on 103.3 FM The Goat in the Acadiana region and the Varsity Network app worldwide with Cody Junot and Bobbby Neveaux calling the action. Live video will be provided by an ESPN+ broadcast that features play-by-play from Noah Frary and analysis from Dorian Craft.
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