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Softball: Bridges Bombs Five in Two UL Wins
The 17th ranked Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns softball team continued to impress early in the 2011 season as they posted a 14-1 win over Arkansas and a 28-0 win over Prairie View A&M, each in five innings. The Cajuns (4-0) win over the Hogs gave co-head coach Stefni Lotief her 500th career win while the win over Prairie View A&M gave fellow co-head coach Michael Lotief his 400th career victory. Senior first baseman Gabriele Bridges continued to shine as she hit five home runs on the day and posted 13 RBI. Bridges now has seven home runs and 17 RBI in four games in 2011. Ashley Brignac was a second storyline for the Cajuns as she made her return to the circle after missing last season due to injury. The Cajuns as a team have now outscored their opponents 76-1 on the young season. GAME ONE The Cajuns picked up their third straight mercy rule victory to open the 2011 season as they downed Arkansas (2-1) by a final score of 14-1. The win marked the 500th of the career for Cajuns co-head coach Stefni Lotief. Ashley Brignac made her season debut, and first start since 2009, picking up the win. She gave up just four hits and one unearned run in a five inning complete game effort Garbiele Bridges went 2-for-2 in the contest with two home runs and six RBI. Christi Orgeron was 3-for-3 with one RBI. The Cajuns as a team pounded out 12 hits The Cajuns wasted no time getting the raucous home crowd into the game. After Nerissa Myers and Erikka Murphy reached on a walk then a single, Christi Orgeron delivered an RBI single up the middle to score Myers from second. Senior Gabriele Bridges then set the Lamson Park fans into a frenzy with a three-run bomb to left field. The home run was the third of the season for Bridges in just three official at bats and it gave UL a 4-0 lead over the Razorbacks. Sarah Draheim added her first home run of the year, a solo shot, two batters later. The dinger by Draheim chased Arkansas’ starting pitcher Kim Jones after just 1/3 of an inning. By the time the first inning was done, the Cajuns had sent nine batters to the plate and led the Hogs 5-0. The junior hurler, Brignac, kept the crowd into the game as she retired the side with two strikeouts in her 2011 debut. UL would surrender their first run of 2011 in the bottom half of the second inning as an infield single, an error and an illegal pitch yielded an unearned run for Arkansas, pulling the Hogs within four at 5-1. The Cajuns would extend their lead to seven runs thanks to a three run fourth inning. After an Orgeron single and an intentional walk to Bridges, Taryn Broussard placed a two-RBI double in the left center field gap. Jensen Tydelski then pinch ran for Broussard and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. After Natalie Fernandez walked, the Cajuns called a double steal, and although Fernandez was thrown out on the play, Tydelski scored to give UL an 8-1 lead. The Cajuns would add six more in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 13 runs. Myers had an RBI double, followed by a two-RBI single from Murphy to get the first three runs. Bridges then launched her fourth home run of the season in four official at bats, this one another three-run blast, was just to the left of the scoreboard and gave the Cajuns their final winning margin of 14-1. GAME TWO The Cajuns cruised to yet another mercy rule win in their second game of the day. This one, a 28-0 win over Prairie View A&M (0-2), gave co-head coach Michael Lotief his 400th career victory. The story of this game was Bridges who went 3-for-6 with three home runs, seven RBI and four runs scored. Bridges hit two home runs, one a grand slam, in the Cajuns 13-run fourth inning and one in the fifth inning. The home runs, RBI and runs were all career highs for the senior. True freshman Natalie Fernandez also shined for UL, going 4-for-4 with four RBI, scoring three runs. Shelbee Rodgers (2-0), Allie Chenault and Paige Cavallin combined for the Cajuns to pitch a three-hit shutout. Rodgers started and threw two perfect innings, giving her seven perfect innings for her career. The Cajuns used nine Prairie View A&M errors in route to scoring in every inning. UL scored two runs in the first, eight in the second, four in third, then 13 and finally one in the fifth. The Cajuns will close out the 25th Annual Louisiana Classics with a 3:00 p.m. showdown against Sam Houston State on Sunday. — Ragin’ Cajuns —
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