Softball: UL Sweeps UNT, Equal Best Start in Program History at 22-0

LAFAYETTE, La. — The UL softball team scored four runs in the fourth inning to break a 3-3 tie as the Cajuns finished off the sweep of North Texas on Sunday, 11-4.

Louisiana (22-0, 3-0) tied their best start in the history of the program with the win. The 2006 squad also began the season winning their first 22 contests.

Jordan Wallace (10-0) became the first Cajuns’ pitcher to double digit wins on the year. The freshman hurled her fifth complete game of the season, allowing four runs and struck out four North Texas (8-13, 0-3) hitters.

“Everytime she has an opportunity to compete, find comfort and build confidence, I think it’s good,” said co-head coach Michael Lotief. “No matter how many hits or runs she gives up she’s learning. There are no shortcuts in the learning process, she has to go through it like every other successful pitcher and I think she handled it well.”

Christi Orgeron smacked her team-leading ninth homerun in the contest and Katie Smith finished the day 4-for-4 and drove in a run.

“When our speed game is working those kids add another component to our game. They are the spark plug to our offense,” said Lotief.

The Mean Green’s Ashley McCarroll had a multi-homer game, hitting her third and fourth long balls of the year.

Both teams were held scoreless through the first inning and a half until the Ragin’ Cajuns struck in the bottom of the second for three runs.

Matte Haack and Paige Cormier each walked to begin the second as Erikka Murphy stepped to the plate with two outs. Murphy lined a 2-1 pitch to left center, plating the first UL run for a 1-0 lead. Natalie Fernandez followed her up with a RBI single of her own, upping the score to 2-0 with runners on the corners. Louisiana would later successfully complete a double steal for their third run of the inning.

North Texas finally got to Wallace in the third as they loaded the bases with no outs to bring Preseason All-SBC, Lisa Johnson, to the dish. She laced a single up the middle to put the Mean Green on the board. Wallace was able to limit UNT to just one other run on a fielder’s choice groundout, cutting the UL advantage to 3-2.

McCarroll evened the score at 3 in the top of the fourth as she lifted a 2-2 offering over the left field wall for her third homerun of the year.

Louisiana regained the lead right away in the next half inning as they filled the bases without recording an out. Nerissa Myers came to the plate and manufactured a RBI groundout to shortstop, scoring Murphy. Orgeron walked on four pitches to reload the bags, while the next batter, Haack, singled to right center to plate Smith and Fernandez for a three-run Cajuns’ lead. UL scored their fourth run of the frame on a sacrifice fly from Sarah Draheim for a 7-3 Louisiana lead.

The Ragin’ Cajuns added three more in the bottom of the fifth. Fernandez tagged from second on a fly ball hit by Myers and scored on the play due to a missed catch by the third baseman. Orgeron launched her second long ball in as many days on a 3-2 pitch, giving her nine homeruns on the year. Haack drew a walk and was knocked in by Cormier who doubled to right for a 10-3 lead.

McCarroll came to the plate with one out in the sixth and homered on the first pitch from Wallace, her second of the game, cutting the UL advantage to 10-4.

Louisiana tallied their final run of the afternoon in the bottom half of the sixth as Granger led off the inning with her second double of the year. She moved up to third on a Fernandez groundout and later scored on Smith’s fourth hit of the game.

The Ragin’ Cajuns will return to the field on Tuesday as they play host to in state rival, McNeese State, at Lamson Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

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— Ragin’ Cajuns —

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