UL Softball Sweeps DH From Appalachian St.

The Sun Belt Conference softball series win streak continues for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.

10th-ranked Louisiana swept a double header from the Appalachian St. Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon in Boone, North Carolina, both in 5-inning mercy-rule fashion, winning the first game, 8-0, before capturing the second game, 15-5.

The two wins extended UL's current win streak to 14 games.

Coupled with their win over Appalachian St. in the series opener on Friday night, the Cajuns extended their league series win streak to 52, 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 Cajuns, who also defeated Appalachian St, 3-1, on Friday evening, ended up outscoring the Mountaineers, 26-6, in the series.

With the triumphs, UL also ran their Sun Belt Conference win streak to 18 games to begin this season, while improving their overall league win streak to 23 games, dating back to last year.

Louisiana got on the scoreboard first, after two long rain delays, plating 7 runs on 4 hits, all with two outs, courtesy of a two-run double by Alissa Dalton, a run-scoring single by Raina O'Neal, a two-run double by Kara Gremiillion, and a two-run home run by Kourtney Gremillion, her 5th of the season, to give them a 7-0 lead, an advantage they would not relinquish.

UL added another run in the top half of the 5th inning, when Kara Gremillion reached, stole second, and then scored on two throwing errors, to widen their lead to 8-0.

That turned out to be all the scoring in the game, as the Cajuns went on to the 8-0 mercy-rule win.

Louisiana, who outhit Appalachian St., 6-1, was led at the plate by Alissa Dalton, who went 2-for-2, to go along with a run scored and two runs batted in, while Kourtney Gremillion homered.

Summer Ellyson (25-4) recorded the win inside the circle for the Cajuns, tossing a three-hit shutout, while striking out five batters.

Sydney Holland (10-6) suffered the loss for the Mountaineers, allowing 7 runs on 5 hits, over 3.0 innings.

View the game box score.

In the second game, once again, it was Louisiana scoring first, scoring three runs on two hits in top half of the first inning, including an RBI single by Bailey Curry and an RBI ground out by Lexie Comeaux, before adding another run on a wild-pitch, to grab a quick 3-0 lead.

UL tacked on three more runs on two more hits in the top half of the second inning, including a bases loaded walk by Sarah Hudek and a two-run double by Alissa Dalton, to widen their advantage to 6-0.

The Cajuns had another big inning in the top half of the 3rd inning, scoring four runs on five hits, including a run-scoring single by Raina O'Neal, a two-run double by Keeli Milligan, and a sacrifice-fly off the bat of Comeaux, to make it 10-0.

Appalachian St. had a big inning in the bottom half of the 3rd, scoring 5 runs on 4 hits, including a three-run homer by Alison Durrence, her 11th of the season, to trim the deficit to 10-5.

Louisiana put the game completely away in the top half of the 4th, scoring four more runs, including an RBI single by Milligan, a run-scoring triple by Hudek, a two-run homer by Dalton, her 4th of the year, and an RBI single by Casidy Chaumont, to give them a 15-5 lead.

That was more than enough for UL, as they went on to the 15-5 triumph in 5-inning, mercy-rule fashion, as well as the doubleheader and series sweep.

Louisiana, who outhit Appalachian St., 17-8, was led at the plate by Dalton, who collected four hits, including a homer, and Milligan, who also contributed four hits, while scoring thre timesand driving home three runs.

Alison Devillel (1-0) recorded the win inside the circle for the Cajuns, throwing 2.0 innings of scoreless relief.

Maddie Siemer (2-3) suffered the loss for the Mountaineers, allowing 9 runs on 8 hits over 2.2 innings..

View the game box score.

With the victories, the Cajuns improved to 37-4, overall, and 18-0 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Appalachian St. dropped to 27-14, and 11-6, respectively.

Louisiana returns to action on Monday, when they continue their 5-game road swing, taking on Campbell in a non-conference affair, with first-pitch scheduled for 4 pm (central time).