UL sophomore right-fielder Shellie Landry

 

The 18th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajun softball team split a Sun Belt Conference doubleheader with the 15th-ranked South Alabama Jaguars on Saturday at Lamson Park, winning the opener, 6-2, before dropping the nightcap, 8-4.

The split means that UL maintains a two-game lead in the loss column over South Alabama atop the Sun Belt Conference standings.

In the opener, down 2-0, Louisiana scored four runs in the third inning, with three coming on a home run by third baseman Samantha Walsh, to take a 4-2 lead.

Outfielder Shellie Landry extended the lead for the Cajuns, with a solo homer in the fifth inning, before outfielder Hayley Hayden belted a solo shot in the sixth, to make it six-unanswered runs, and giving Louisiana a 6-2 lead.

That was more than enough, as Louisiana hung on for the the four-run victory, increasing their win streak to a season-high 14 games.

Hayden, along with catcher Lexie Elkins, and shortstop Corin Voinche each collected two hits apiece, while the Cajuns hit three homers, the most in a game allowed by South Alabama pitching, who had allowed only five homers all season, in a single game all year.

Christina Hamilton (14-1), who scattered ten hits, while allowing only one earned run, recorded the win for UL, while Farish Beard (17-4), who was leading the nation in ERA. coming in, suffered the defeat for the Jaguars.

View the game box score. 

 

In the second game, South Alabama scored three runs in the top half of the first inning, before Louisiana answered with three runs of their own, thanks to a three-run home run by Elkins, the fourth of the day for the Cajuns, to tie the game, 3-3.

From there, is was pretty much all Jaguars, as USA scored four runs in the top of the third, and one in the top of the fourth, to take an insurmountable 8-3.

Louisiana scored a run in their half of the sixth inning, but it wasn't enough, as South Alabama put an end to UL's 14-game win streak.

Hannah Campbell (13-3) was the winning pitcher for the Jaguars, while Jordan Wallace (13-3) was tagged with the loss for the Cajuns.

View the game box score.

 

With the doubleheader split, Louisiana is now 29-7-1, overall, and 10-1 in Sun Belt Conference play, while South Alabama currently stands at 32-7, overall, and 9-3 in league play.

The two teams will square off in the rubber game of the series on Sunday at 1 o'clock.

You can hear all the play-by-play action on Sports Radio ESPN 1420 & espn1420.com, beginning with the pre-game show at 12:45 pm.

 

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