Cajun Sweep DH From Coastal Carolina

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns continue to roll in Sun Belt Conference softball play.

13th-ranked Louisiana swept a doubleheader from the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Charles Wade-John Lott Field in Conway, South Carolina on Saturday afternoon, winning the first game, 7-2, before taking the second game, 7-0.

With the triumphs, the Cajuns extended their Sun Belt Conference series win streak to 63, a school and Sun Belt Conference record, as well as the longest current conference win streak in the nation.

Louisiana has not dropped a conference series since the weekend of St. Patrick's Day in 2013.

The doubleheader sweep over Coastal Carolina also gave UL 22 wins over their last 25 games, while snapping the Chanticleers 8-game win streak.

The two victories also trimmed Louisiana's magic number to two games for clinching the regular-season Sun Belt Conference championship.

In the first game, Louisiana got on the scoreboard first, scoring an unearned run in the top half of the second inning, which gave them a quick 1-0 lead.

The Cajuns added two more runs in the top half of the third inning when Julie Rawls drove home a run with a single before Kendall Talley plated another run with a sacrifice fly, which extended their lead to 3-0.

Coastal Carolina scored its first run in the bottom half of the fourth inning, courtesy of a solo home run by Kayla Rosado, her seventh of the season, which trimmed to deficit to 3-1.

UL pushed across three more runs in the top half of the fourth inning when Talley blasted a three-run homer, her second of the season, to extend the edge to 6-1.

Louisiana added an insurance run in the top half of the 7th inning when Talley drove home her fifth run of the game with a sacrifice fly, which made the score 7-1.

The Chanticleers scored the final run of the game in the bottom half of the seventh inning when Courtney Dean hit a solo homer, her seventh of the season, to make it 7-2.

It wasn't enough however, as the Cajuns cruised to the 7-2 win.

Louisiana, who outhit Coastal Carolina, 7-6, was led at the plate by Talley, who homered and drove in five runs, while Rawls and Ciara Bryan each collectedtwo hits.

In a losing cause for Coastal Carolina, Rosado and Dean both homered.

Kandra Lamb (15-4) recorded the win in the circle for the Cajuns, allowing one run on three hits over 4.1 innings.

Iyanla DeJesus (5-7) suffered the loss for the Chanticleers, allowing seven runs on seven hits over 6.0 innings.

View the game box score..

In the second game, Louisiana jumped on top early, scoring two runs in the top half of the second inning, courtesy of a two-run home run off the bat of Bailey Curry, her fourth of the season, 44which gave them a 2-0 lead.

The Cajuns added to their lead in the top half of the fourth inning when Justice Milz crushed a solo homer, her seventh of the season, extending their advantage to 3-0.

Louisiana added two more runs in the top half of the fifth inning when Jade Gortarez launched a two-run homer, her eighth of the season, to make it 5-0.

UL put the game completely away in the top half of the sixth inning, scoring twice more, including a run-scoring single by Ciara Bryan, which extended their lead to 7-0

That was all the Cajuns would need, as they went on to the 7-0 triumph and the doubleheader sweep.

Louisiana, who outhit Coastal Carolina, 10-3, was led at the plate by Curry, Milz, and Gortarez, who all homered, while Kaitlyn Alderink collected two hits.

In a losing cause for Coastal Carolina, Makiya Thomas, Ally Clegg, and DeJesus collected their only hits.

Summer Ellyson (17-5) recorded the win in the circle for the Cajuns, allowing only two hits over 5.2 shutout innings.

The win was the 91st in Ellyson's great career, which ties Jordan Wallace for fourth place on the school's all-time list.

Kaitlin Beasley-Polko (9-9) suffered the loss for the Chanticleers, allowing seven runs on nine hits over 6.0 innings.

View the game box score.

With the two victories, Louisiana improved to 37-9, overall, and 18-2 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Coastal Carolina fell to 19-21, and 7-13, respectively.

The two teams wrap-up their three-game series with a single game on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. (central time).

The series finale will represent the final regular-season road game of the season for the Cajuns.