In their perfect world, they’d make a quick stopover in Lafayette, wash clothes, repack bags, have a practice or two and move on to Oklahoma City for this week’s NCAA Women’s College World Series.

Instead, their bid having come to a close with Friday night’s Super Regional round-of-16 loss at Arizona State, members of UL’s Ragin’ Cajuns softball team stepped off a bus Saturday night and into the arms of a hundred or so flower-toting family members, friends and fans gathered at Lamson Park.

Senior leftfielder Katie Smith called the scene "awesome," the same way she described UL’s 53-6 season. Pitcher Ashley Brignac, a fifth-year senior, deemed it both "special" but also "kind of upsetting."

"It was unbelievable, to go out with a season like this," Brignac said. "It was really amazing, especially for us seniors.

"You know, we fell short of where we wanted to go — but I’m going to look back, and so are these seniors, and say, ‘Wow, the things we were able to do and accomplish,’ and, ‘How much fun we had this season,’ and ‘How much work it took.’

"It was very special," she added, "and I’m very honored to be able to be a part of this team. I’m really going to miss it."

After freshman pitcher Jordan Wallace helped lead the No. 14 seed Cajuns to a 6-0 win over the defending national-champion Sun Devils on Thursday night, Brignac and UL were on the short end of a 9-2 loss Friday night in Game 2 of the best-of-three series.

Game 3 followed late

Friday night, and Arizona State — seeded No. 3 — won that one 8-0 with Wallace in the circle. The freshman allowed eight runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings, just her second loss to go with 27 victories in 2012.

"It just wasn’t a good day for us," said UL co-coach Stefni Lotief, whose club was run-ruled in six innings. "But one day does not make an entire season, and I’m not going to reflect the entire season on one day."

How so much changed so quickly between Days 1 and 2 of the Super Regional wasn’t as hard for the Cajuns to explain Saturday as one might have suspected.

"The first day, you know, we had things going on the defensive side, and our offense came alive and we were able to put up runs across the board," Brignac said. "The second day, it kind of just reversed. It switched. It went to their side.

"We kind of knew it was going to be a slugfest, one or the other, and we were just trying to stay on top — and things didn’t fall our way.

"But we didn’t fall short of going at it every pitch," she added, "and we were fighting our hearts out and trying everything we can."

The biggest adjustment Arizona State made, Smith suggested, should be obvious.

"They hit the ball, actually," she said of a Sun Devils team that, after being held to two hits by Wallace on Thursday, hit eight home runs in the two Friday games combined.

"They just came out fired up and ready to go," Smith added. "They took the momentum, and just kept rolling with it."

Dallas Escobedo, who got hammered in Game 1, threw a three-hitter in Game 3, striking out seven with no walks.

She got plenty of support, too, including four homers that provided seven of ASU’s eight runs.

UL, meanwhile, mustered only three singles from leadoff-hitter Smith, and one each from Natalie Fernandez and Nerissa Myers.

The Sun Devils struck fast in Game 3, with back-to-back solo homers from Alix Johnson and Haley Steele in the first inning, followed in the second by a two-run shot from Elizabeth Caporuscio.

Johnson’s second homer, good for three runs in the fifth, made it 7-0 and practically put things out of reach, even for a Cajun club averaging a nation-leading eight runs a game.

That was especially the case after Fernandez, Smith and Myers all singled to load the bases for the Cajuns, only to have Escobedo escape the jam by getting Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Christi Orgeron to foul out, Matte Haack to strike out and Brianna Cherry to fly out to Caporuscio in deep center.

It wasn’t so much how Friday ended as how their whole season unfolded, though, that the Cajuns were focused on Saturday.

"(Arizona State) is a tough team. They’re a great program, obviously. "» And we came up a little bit short," Lotief said. "But that doesn’t diminish anything we were able to accomplish this season."

"Looking back on the season, it was awesome," Smith added. "A lot of teams don’t only lose six games — so I’m very proud."

After advancing out of a UL-hosted regional that also included Mississippi Valley State, Baylor and runner-up Stanford, the Cajuns came within a hair of advancing to the College World Series for the sixth time since 1995.

"We’re going to look back, and not be upset or mad at the way it happened," said Brignac, who played on the last Cajun team that went to the WCWS, as a freshman in 2008. "We’re going to look back, and enjoy the season, and move on.

"These last five years have been absolutely amazing and special to me," she added. "I wouldn’t change it for the world."

Athletic Network Footnote:

 Click here for the photo gallery of Sunday’s May 20 regional championship game.

Click here for the photo gallery of Friday’s game.

Click here for the photo gallery of Saturday’s game.