Softball: No. 20 Louisiana Sweeps Appalachian State, Extends Wins and Shutout Streak

LAFAYETTE – 20th-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball completed a Sun Belt Conference series sweep of Appalachian State with a 7-0 win on Sunday at Lamson Park.
 
Louisiana (18-6, 5-1 Sun Belt) built its lead by generating runs in each of the first five innings. Summer Ellyson, Casey Dixon and Carrie Boswell combined for the pitching staff’s third shutout of the series.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns extended their current winning streak to five games. The pitching staff extended its streak of consecutive shutouts to four games (began Thursday vs. FIU).
 
LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Lexie Comeaux‘s game-high two RBI came off a home run in the fifth inning which extended the lead to 7-0.
 
Kourtney Gremillion collected the first home run of her collegiate career, a solo shot to lead off the second inning. It was her team-leading fifth hit of the series.
 
Casidy Chaumont picked up an RBI on a two-out double in the third inning. It set the stage for a two-run frame that increased the lead to 4-0.
 
Kara Gremillion coaxed three walks from Mountaineers pitchers with her first of the contest setting up a tally in the first inning.
 
Ellyson set the tone in the pitching circle with four scoreless frames in earning her eighth win of the season. Dixon posted four strikeouts in her two innings of relief while Boswell had two strikeouts of her own in the seventh.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Louisiana took advantage of a two-out error at first base to score in the first inning for the third time in the series. The Mountaineers got back-to-back singles to start the second inning, but Ellyson induced a double play ball and finished with a strikeout to prevent an answer.
 
Kourtney Gremillion won an eight-pitch at bat to open the second inning with her solo homer that made it 2-0.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns two-out success continued in the third inning. After a caught stealing and ground out, Kynadi Tipler singled down the right field line and scored on the next play when Chaumont doubled. The inning was extended, and another Cajuns run scored, on an App State error.
 
Mountaineers reliever Katie Williford appeared to slow the Ragin’ Cajuns down in the fifth inning. A two-out walk to Kalyn Watts was cashed in when Comeaux launched the first pitch she saw into the left field bleachers increasing the lead to 7-0.
 
NOTEWORTHY
– The Ragin’ Cajuns exited the series with 14 hits and 10 RBI in two-out situations. The squad was 14-for-30 (.467) at the plate with two outs against Mountaineers pitching.
– Louisiana’s pitching staff surrendered just five hits over 19 innings of shutout softball in the series.
– Adding in the FIU contest on Thursday, the pitching staff worked 26 scoreless innings during this week’s four-game homestand.
– Kourtney Gremillion‘s home run allowed her to join sister Kara Gremillion in homering in the series. On Saturday, Kara picked up her first homer of the season.
– Alissa Dalton (5-for-10) tied Kourtney Gremillion for the team-lead with five hits in the series. Dalton topped the team with four RBI in the weekend set.
– Louisiana’s offense posted a .392 average, scored 20 runs, produced 29 hits and launched four home runs in the series.
– Dating back to the Coastal Carolina series finale, the Ragin’ Cajuns have now homered in four of the past five games.
– Louisiana has now surpassed five hits in eight of the last nine outings and drawn multiple walks seven times during the span.
– The Ragin’ Cajuns pitching staff has now yielded less than five runs 21 times in 24 games. The unit has an active streak of 13 consecutive games holding foes below the benchmark.
– Louisiana improved to 8-0 all-time vs. Appalachian State. The Ragin’ Cajuns have posted a sweep in both of the Mountaineers visits to Lamson Park (2016, 2018).
– With the series sweep of Appalachian State, the Ragin’ Cajuns remained one-half game behind Texas State (5-0 SBC) for the Sun Belt lead after two weeks of conference play.
 
UP NEXT
No. 20 Louisiana returns to the road and travels to Troy, Ala., next weekend for a three-game Sun Belt series with the Trojans set for Saturday-Sunday, March 24-25.
 
Louisiana and Troy are scheduled to meet in a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and 12 p.m. single game on Sunday at the Troy Softball Complex.
 
For more information on Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball, as well as all of Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow along with the team on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB) and Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB).