UL Softball Defeats ULM, Secures Series
The wins just keep on coming for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in Sun Belt Conference softball play.
14th-ranked Louisiana captured an 8-6 win over the ULM Warhawks at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park on Friday night in the middle game of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series, representing the final games of the 2021 regular season for both squads.
With the triumph, coupled with their 10-1 victory over ULM in the series opener on Thursday night, the Cajuns extended their Sun Belt Conference series win streak to 64, 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 victory also gave UL 25 wins over their last 28 games, while extending their win streak over the Warhawks to 24 games dating back to the 2012 season.
Louisiana has already captured the regular-season Sun Belt Conference championship, their 17th in the 20 years of completed competition in league play.
Louisiana got on the scoreboard first, scoring a run in the bottom half of the first inning when Ciara Byan began the frame with an infield single before later scoring on a single off the bat of Kendall Talley, which gave them a quick 1-0 lead.
ULM took the lead in the top half of the second inning, scoring two runs on two hits, courtesy of a clutch two-out, two-run single by Madison Blount, which gave them a 2-1 advantage.
The Cajuns tied the game with an unearned run in the bottom half of the second inning, which made the score 2-2.
The Warhawks grabbed their second lead of the contest in the top half of the third inning, scoring three runs, two of them unearned, on two hits, including a run-scoring single off the bat on Kennedy Johnson, which gave them a 5-2 edge.
Louisiana took the lead in the bottom half of the fifth inning when Justice Milz launched a grand slam home run, her 8th long ball of the season, which gave them a 6-5 lead.
ULM tied things in the top half of the 6th inning, scoring another unearned run, their fourth of the contest, to make it 6-6.
The Cajuns took the lead for good in the bottom half of the sixth inning when Bryan came through with a clutch two-run single, to give them an 8-6 lead.
That was all Louisiana would need, as they went on to the 8-6 triumph.
Louisiana, who was outhit by ULM, 7-5, was led at the plate by Heath, who hit the grand slam homer, along with Bryan, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
In a losing cause for ULM, Madison Blount and Johnson both collected two hits.
Summer Ellyson (20-5) recorded the win in the circle for the Cajuns, allowing one run in 3.1 innings of relief.
For Ellyson, it was her 94th career victory as a Cajun, placing in a tie with Ashley Brignac for third place on the school's all-time list.
Gianni Hewlett (5-9) suffered the loss for the Warhawks, allowing 8 runs on 5 hits over 5.1 innings.
With the victory, Louisiana improved to 40-9, overall, and 21-2 in Sun Belt Conference play, while ULM fell to 15-30 and 5-15, respectively.
The two teams will square off in the final middle game of the series on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., representing the final game of the regular season for both teams.