The 22nd-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns had a bad news, bad good day on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.

Louisiana split a Sun Belt Conference doubleheader with the UTA Mavericks, dropping the first game, 4-3, before coming back to take the second game, 6-1.

The doubleheader represented the first two games of a three-game, conference series.

The twinbill split, the third-straight for the Cajuns, means they will have to win the rubber game on Sunday to extend their conference series win streak, which dates back to March of 2013, to 45-straight.

In the opener, Louisiana got on the scoreboard first, plating three runs in the top half of the third inning, courtesy of a two-out, three-run home run by Alissa Dalton, her third long ball of the season, to give them a 3-0 lead.

UTA drew closer in the bottom half of the third inning, scoring two unearned runs, to trim the deficit to 3-2.

The Mavericks won it in the bottom half of the 7th inning, when Krista Rude reached on an error to begin the frame, before Bri Burchianti belted a two-run walk-off home run, her second of the season, to give them the 4-3 triumph.

Louisiana, who evened UTA in the hit column, 5-5, was paced at the plate by Dalton, who went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer, while Burchianti hit the game-winning walk-off homer for the Mavericks.

Randi Phillips (15-8) recorded the win in the circle for the Mavericks, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits over 7.0 innings pitched.

Summer Ellyson (17-7) suffered the loss for the Cajuns, allowing 4 runs, only one of which was earned, on 5 hits, over 6.0 of work.

Randi Phillips (14-9), suffered the loss for the Mavericks, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits over 7.0 innings pitched.

View the game one box score here.

In the second game, Louisiana once again grabbed the early advantage, scoring two runs in the top half of the third inning, when Casidy Chaumont crushed a solo home run, her 5th of the season, before adding three unearned runs, including two-out run-scoring singles by Kourtney Gremillion and Carrie Boswell, to give them a 4-0 lead.

The Cajuns widened their lead in the top half of the 4th inning, scoring twice more, when Dalton delivered a clutch two-out run-scoring single, prior to Brittany Rodriguez scoring on the back end of a double steal, to extend their advantage to 6-0.

UTA scored their first, and only run of the contest, in the bottom half of the 4th inning, when Sandra Mendoza tripled, before scoring on an RBI single off the bat of Laura Curry, to cut the Louisiana lead to 6-1.

That would be all the Mavericks could muster however, as UL went on to the 6-1 victory.

Louisiana, who outhit UTA, 9-5, was paced at the plate by Chaumont, who homered, while Kourtney Gremillion and Carrie Boswell each collected two hits apiece.

Casey Dixon (7-3) recorded the win in the circle for the Cajuns, allowing one run on five hits over 7.0 innings.

JoJo Valencia (9-13) suffered the loss for the Mavericks, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits over 4.0 innings of work.

View the game two box score here.

With the doubleheader split, Louisiana moved their overall record to 32-13, overall, and 17-6 in Sun Belt Conference play, while UTA is now 25-21, and 13-9, respectively.

The two teams will conclude their three-game set with a Sunday single game beginning at noon.

You can hear all the play-by-play action on Sports Radio ESPN 1420 and espn1420.com, beginning with the pregame show at 11:45 am.

More From 103.3 The GOAT