UL Softball Falls To McNeese In Extra Innings

The softball win streak ended for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on Wednesday night.

9th-ranked Louisiana fell to the McNeese Cowgirls, 5-4, in 11 innings, in a non-conference match-up at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.

The victory extended UL's current win streak to 8-straight.

With the triumph, McNeese also ended the Cajuns' 2019 home record to 15-1.

Louisiana, who fell to Texas St., 5-2, in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title game last season, has won 21-straight regular season home games.

Louisiana got on the scoreboard first, plating a single run in the bottom half of the second, when Sarah Hudek drove home a run with a sacrifice-fly, to grab a 1-0 lead, the 18th time in their first 27 games that the Cajuns scored first.

McNeese took the lead in the top of the 5th inning, when Justyce McClain singled home a run with a two-out single, to make it 1-1, before Cori McCrary belted a two-run homer, her third of the season, to give them a 3-1 advantage.

UL got closer in the bottom half of the 5th inning, scoring a run, when Alissa Dalton singled with one out, before later scoring on a double off the bat of Casidy Chaumont, to trim the deficit to 3-2.

The Cowgirls added to their lead in the top half of the 6th inning, when Taylor Strother singled home a run with two outs, to give them a 4-2 advantage.

The Cajuns evened the game in the game in the bottom half of the 6th inning, when Raina O'Neal crushed a two-run homer, her 7th of the year, to tie things, 4-4.

The score stayed that way until the half of the 11th inning, when McNeese scored the winning run, unearned, to make it 5-4.

Louisiana had an opportunity in the bottom of the 11th inning, with runners at first and third with only one out, but Keeli Milligan hit a fly ball to left, and McClain threw out Dalton at the plate to end game.

Dalton led the way at the plate for UL in a losing cause, going 3-for-5 with a run scored.

Caroline Settle (4-5) recorded the win in the circle for McNeese, while Summer Ellyson (17-4) suffered the loss for the Cajuns.

With the victory, McNeese improved to 13-17, overall, while Louisiana dropped to 23-4.

Louisiana returns to action on Friday, when they travel to Mobile, Alabama to take on the South Alabama Jaguars in the opening game of a three-game, weekend, Sun Belt Conference series.