Softball: Cajuns Top LSU, Claim Spot in Championship Round

Athletic Network Footnote by Dr. Ed Dugas:
Please click here for the photo gallery of the game posted by the Daily Advertiser May 20, 2017. 

BATON ROUGE – In a game that featured two weather delays that totaled six-plus hours, 14th-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball battled back to defeat No. 18 LSU, 4-2, and advance to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Championship Round.

 DJ Sanders launched a three-run home run in the fifth inning to propel the Ragin’ Cajuns (47-6) into the lead and Alex Stewart made it stand by fending off advances from LSU (42-19) in the fifth and sixth inning.
 
"I’m really proud of my kids…they’re unbelievable," Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball head coach Michael Lotief said. "They’re just scrappers, fighters and they inspire me. And this fan base, how they love and fight for these kids, really makes me proud."
 
Louisiana advances to the championship round of an NCAA Regional for the 10th consecutive season (2008-17). For the sixth straight time, the program enters the round in the driver’s seat with an undefeated mark.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns await the survivor of the elimination games in the Baton Rouge Regional which started Saturday evening with McNeese and Fairfield and will continue Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
 
The championship round is now scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Louisiana needs only one win to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals for the sixth consecutive season. Should the "if necessary" game be needed, it would be played on Monday at a time still to be determined
 
Sanders finished 2-for-4 at the plate with the home run marking her nation-leading 29th of the season and the three RBI increasing her season total to 81.
 
Stewart (27-3, 1.59 ERA), who extended her personal win streak to 20 games, held the opposition to two earned runs or less for the 25th time in 27 starts.
 
LSU grabbed the lead after the first delay, getting a two-out RBI double from Amanda Doyle in the first inning and a two-out RBI triple from Bailey Landry in the third inning for a 2-0 edge.
 
The Tigers were able to carry the lead into second weather delay, which began at 2:46 p.m., as Allie Walljasper stranded six Ragin’ Cajuns base runners over the first three innings.
 
When play resumed for good at 7:27 p.m., both Walljasper and Stewart worked 1-2-3 innings.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns began to turn the tide in the fifth inning starting with back-to-back singles from Kara Gremillion and Aleah Craighton. A first-pitch grounder from Haley Hayden was misplayed and that allowed Gremillion to score trimming the LSU lead to 2-1.
 
After fouling off two pitches on a 1-2 count, Sanders changed the game on the next swing. She went opposite field over the right field fence to lift Louisiana into a 4-2 lead.
 
The Tigers attempted to rally each of the next two at bats, but Stewart stood her ground. She retired Savannah Jaquish and Landry consecutively after the Tigers had two runners in scoring position in the fifth inning, then in the sixth inning retired back-to-back batters after a pair of one-out singles gave the hosts two base runners.
 
The win extended Louisiana’s winning streak to 15 games, matching the season-high streak that occurred March 18-April 14.
 
DIAMOND NOTES
– Louisiana and LSU met in the NCAA Softball Tournament for the first time since the 2013 Baton Rouge Regional.
– The Ragin’ Cajuns posted their sixth straight win over the Tigers in NCAA Tournament play. Louisiana now holds a 7-4 edge over LSU in NCAA Tournament meetings.
– The Ragin’ Cajuns are now 27-5 in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament dating back to 2008. The program’s all-time record in the NCAA Regional round moved to 61-32.
– Louisiana’s all-time overall NCAA Tournament record (regionals, super regionals, WCWS combined) now stands at 73-55.
– Haley Hayden picked up two hits in the contest, increasing her career total to 275. She is now within one hit of joining the program’s all-time Top 5 career hits list and tying Jana Mower (276 hits from 1998-2001) for fifth place.
– DJ Sanders, now with 29 home runs, is one shy of becoming just the third player in program history to reach 30 homers in a single season. Only Lexie Elkins (32 in 2015) and Danyele Gomez (30 in 2006) have reached the mark.
– DJ Sanders‘ 3 RBI upped her season total to 81 which marks the fourth-most in a single season. She joins Christi Orgeron (101 in 2011; 94 in 2012) and Lexie Elkins (83 in 2015) as the only players in the program’s history to reach 80 RBI in a season. 
– Kara Gremillion‘s leadoff single in the fifth inning marked the 45th consecutive game she’s reached base. Gremillion has been aboard the base path in 50 of the 53 games played this season.
– For only the 12th time in 53 games this season, the opponent scored first. Louisiana posted its eighth win (now 8-4) when coming back from a deficit.
– The Ragin’ Cajuns remained undefeated (8-0) all-time in the current Tiger Park. The program swept through NCAA Regionals held at the facility in 2010 and 2013.