UL Softball Takes DH From Georgia St.
The 19th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns began another successful weekend on Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia.
Louisiana swept a Sun Belt Conference doubleheader from the Georgia St. Panthers, winning the first game, 8-4, before also winning the nightcap, 12-1.
The doubleheader represented the first two games of a three-game, weekend, conference series.
The twinbill sweep cinches another conference series win for Louisiana, extending their league series win streak to 42-straight, dating back to March of 2013.
Louisiana outscored Georgia St. in the two games, combined, 20-5, while outhitting them, 27-11.
In the opener, Louisiana drew first blood, plating a run in the top half of the first inning, when Brittany Rodriguez singled, stole second, and then later scored on a two-out single off the bat of Beth Ashley, to give them a quick 1-0 lead.
The Cajuns basically put the game away in the top half of the third inning, scoring 5 runs, all with two outs, including including a run-scoring single by Ashley, and a three-run double by Casidy Chaumont, to widen their lead to 6-0.
Georgia St. scored their first run of the contest in the bottom half of the third inning, when Brenna Skalski doubled, before scoring on a ground ball off the bat of Ivie Drake, to trim the deficit to 6-1.
Louisiana added two insurance runs in the top half of the 7th inning, the first coming on a two-out single by Kara Gremillion, before Ashley drove home her third run of the game with a double, to make it 8-1.
The Panthers scored three runs in the bottom half of the 7th inning, when Remington Hasty, Kristen Hawkins, and Skylar Mosel hit back-to-back-to-back home runs, to make it 8-4.
It would be far too little, far too late, however, as UL went on to the 4-run triumph
Louisiana, who outhit Georgia St., 12-5, was paced at the plate by Ashley, who collected three hits and drove in three runs, while Chaumont also drove home three runs..
Summer Ellyson (11-4) recorded the win in the circle for the Cajuns, allowing only one run on two hits over 6.0 innings, while striking out 7.
Kinsley Jennings (8-7), suffered the loss for the Panthers, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits over 2.2 innings pitched.
View the game one box score here.
In the second game, Louisiana once again grabbed the early advantage, scoring three runs on four hits in the top half of the first inning, including run-scoring ground outs by Ashley and Kourtney Gremillion, as well as an RBI single off the bat of Lexie Comeaux, to give them a quick 3-0 lead.
Georgia St. drew closer in the bottom half of the third inning, scoring their only run of the game, when Megan Litumbe singled home Ivie Drake, to trim the deficit to 3-1.
The Cajuns added to their lead in the top half of the 6th inning, scoring three times, when Alissa Dalton singled, before scoring on a two-out double off the bat of Kara Gremillion, who scored on a single by Ashley, who herself crossed the plate on a double by Comeaux, to make it 6-1.
Louisiana wrapped-up the scoring scoring six runs in the top half of the 7th inning, courtesy of a run-scoring double by Dalton, as well as an RBI single off the bat of Kara Gremillion, to make it 8-1, before Comeaux crushed a grand slam homer, her 4th long ball of the season, to widen the advantage to 12-1.
That would be more than enough for UL, as they went on to the 11-run triumph.
Louisiana, who outhit Georgia St., 15-6, was paced at the plate by Kara Gremillion, who went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI's, and Comeaux, who homered and drove in six runs, while Rodriguez and Dalton collected two hits apiece..
Carrie Boswell (3-1) recorded the win for the Cajuns, twirling six innings, while allowing only one run on six hits.
Amanda Chance (6-8) suffered the loss for the Panthers, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits over 2.0 innings.
View the game two box score here..
With the doubleheader sweep, Louisiana improved to 25-9, overall, and 12-2 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Georgia St. fell to 19-18, and 4-9, respectively.
The two teams will conclude their three-game set with a Sunday single game beginning at 11 am.
You can hear all the play-by-play action on Sports Radio ESPN 1420 and espn1420.com, beginning with the pregame show at 10:45 am.