UL Softball Wins Two On Second Day Of Louisiana Classics

UL sophomore outfielder Hayley Hayden

The 9th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajun softball team recorded two more wins on the second day of the Louisiana Classics on Saturday at Lamson Park, shutting out the Central Arkansas Bears, 8-0, before blanking the Eastern Illinois Panthers, 17-0.

Both wins were completed in mercy-rule fashion, with each lasting only five innings.

The two wins gives Louisiana victories in their first three games this season, outscoring the opposition, 31-0, in the process.

In their first game of the day against Central Arkansas, the Cajuns scored the first runs of the game in the top half of the fourth inning, plating five.

D.J. Sanders got UL on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly, chasing pinch-runner Cassidy White to make it 1-0.

Three batters later, Shellie Landry crushed a grand slam home, making it a 5-run inning, and extended the Louisiana advantage to 5-0.

The Cajuns added three more runs in their half of the fifth-inning, to make it 8-0, before going on to the 5-inning, mercy-rule win.

Kelsey Vincent, Aleah Craighton, and Kelli Martinez collected two hits apiece, while Landry, with her grand slam, drove in four runs.

Freshman right-hander Kylee Jo Trahan, in first first collegiate appearance, recorded the complete-game, three-hit shutout, walking four, and striking out seven.

With the victory, Louisiana improved to 2-0, while Central Arkansas slipped to 2-2.

In their second game of the afternoon, the Cajuns scored 8 runs in the first inning against Eastern Illinois, and never looked back, plating one more in the second, along with one in the third, and six in the fourth, to cruise to the 17-0 route of the Panthers.

Hayley Hayden went 2-for-3, including two home runs, while Craighton went 2-for-3, including a homer and four runs batted in, with Samantha Walsh also adding a two-run long ball.

Sophomore right-hander Alex Stewart picked up the win, allowing only one hit in three innings of work, while senior right-hander Christina Hamilton, in her first appearance of 2015, pitched two perfect innings in relief.

The win pushed the Cajuns to 3-0 on the season, while Eastern Illinois fell to 0-2.

Louisiana and Eastern Illinois close out the Louisiana Classics with a 2 o'clock match-up on Sunday afternoon.