They claim to never go to the plate thinking home run, let alone grand slam when the opportunity presents itself.

But that didn’t stop the UL softball team from going deep with bases loaded twice Saturday, lifting the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 9-3 win over Stanford in their second outing of the NCAA Division I Regional tournament they are hosting at Lamson Park.

The victory in front of 2,476 — boosted by blasts from shortstop Nerissa Myers and first baseman Matte Haack, and the seven-hit, complete-game pitching of freshman Jordan Wallace sends No. 14-seeded UL (51-4 overall, 2-0 in the regional) into today’s 1 p.m. game against Stanford.

If the Cajuns win that one, they’ll advance to Super Regional play next weekend.

If not, they’ll play a tourney-deciding if-necessary game against Saturday night’s Baylor-Stanford winner at 3:30 p.m. today to determine which team advances and whose season is done.

"Our kids responded," said UL co-coach Michael Lotief, whose Cajuns got 13 hits — including three each from leftfielder Katie Smith and third baseman Natalie Fernandez — off Stanford starter Teagan Gerhart. "They came out and they answered the challenge."

Yet they also understand, Lotief suggested, that another obstacle awaits.

"We also have to realize," he said, "that it’s just one, it’s just one win.

"We did some really, really good things in this game, but we also did some things that we have to fix," the Cajun co-coach added. "We can’t start the celebration and the party right now."

UL did do a little dancing, though, after Myers went deep in the top of the second inning to make it 4-0.

With Erikka Murphy, Fernandez and Smith all on base, the Cajuns shortstop lifted an offering from Gerhart just over the right-center fence.

The two-out grand slam marked the 76th, 77th, 78th and 79th RBI, and 13th homer, of the season for Myers, who says as she so often does — that she came up thinking about nothing more than a single.

"At the moment, we just needed a base hit to keep us going throughout the inning and to get some runs on the board for Jordan (Wallace)," Myers said. "But walking up to the plate, Coach Mike (Lotief) said, ‘Don’t get beat in,’ so we did what we worked on throughout the week, which was not getting beat in, and it just help me to go out of the park.

"We’re a hitting team, and we go up there competing every pitch," added Myers, who finished the game with two runs scored to give her 79 on the season — a new school and Sun Belt Conference record. "We don’t take a pitch off, and all we’re trying to do is win that particular pitch, that particular at-bat, with everybody, one though nine."

Haack took a similar frame of mind to her at-bat in the top of the fourth, even with Fernandez standing on third, Smith on second and Myers on first.

"It definitely is the same approach," Haack said. "You know, before the game I was just thinking, ‘K, four quality at-bats.’ That’s what we want to do. I don’t try to carry previous at-bats into that at-bat, or look for it."

Yet Haack smashed it anyway, sending the Gerhart pitch high over the fence and well into branches of the ole oak tree in left-center.

The slam, which also came with two out, was her 11th home run of 2012.

"I was just so proud of my teammates for getting on ahead, and extending the inning, and staying with their at-bats," Haack said. "It definitely felt good to come through, though."

The shot put UL up 8-0, and gave Wallace — who wound up striking out four, walking just two and throwing 118 pitches — all sorts of breathing room.

"I just was happy that my team could have my back," said Wallace, who improved to 26-1 on the season.

"You know, I knew that this game was gonna be a fight — and I knew that our team was here, and that we were ready to play, and it was just reassuring."

Lotief, though, was taking nothing for granted — not even after a Myers fly ball to left in the fifth was dropped, allowing Fernandez to score from second and the Cajuns to go up 9-0. "You know that Stanford is going to come and fight," he said. "You know that."

And the Cardinal did.

Stanford was within one out of getting run-ruled in the fifth, but second baseman Jenna Rich’s three-run homer to left extended the game two more innings.

Wallace got out of the sixth unscathed, however, thanks largely to centerfielder Brianna Cherry stealing a possible home run from Maya Burns with a leaping catch at the wall.

And Stanford had runners on first and second with two out in the seventh, but Wallace got out of that jam by coaxing a game-ending, 1-3 grounder out of Burns.

With that, UL advanced on through the regional’s path of least resistance — the winner’s bracket.

"It’s definitely easier," Haack said of not having to fight back out of the loser’s bracket. "It keeps everybody fresh. "» We’re definitely going to be ready."