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Softball – Blast off: Bridges’ two-run homer boosts Cajuns to 5-0 win over Texas A&MJoshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • May 22, 2010 BATON ROUGE — With two swings of her bat, junior first baseman Bridges smacked a two-run home run in the first inning and added an RBI double in the sixth as the Ragin’ Cajuns stunned 18th-ranked Texas A&M, 5-0, Friday in the first game of the NCAA "It’s awesome to come out with a great at-bat and a great hit and get on the board," said Bridges, who went 2-for-3 with a game-high three RBIs. "Everybody builds off that momentum." The Cajuns (43-16) certainly did in front of a strong UL contingent at LSU’s Tiger Park. In addition to Bridge’s big day, senior right-hander Brittany Cuevas threw a complete-game gem against the Aggies A&M, which tied for third this year in the Big 12, did little to help itself, stranding seven runners on base and committing three errors that resulted in two unearned runs. The Cajuns advance to play No. 12 national seed LSU (45-14) at noon today after the Tigers beat McNeese State, 6-0, on Friday. A&M takes on McNeese State at 3 p.m. today in an elimination game. "I’m really disappointed in the way that our team played today," A&M coach Jo Evans said. "Defensively, we did not take care of the ball. A lot of those were scored hits, but clearly we needed to make plays. We could have easily had five or six errors on the board from my perspective. "Offensively, I didn’t think that we did a good job of making adjustments at the plate. Brittany was throwing a lot of screwballs for strikes, and we need to be more aggressive and hit that pitch." A&M freshman righty Melissa Dumezich was tagged for the loss, falling to 17-3 this season after going all seven innings and allowing five runs — three earned — on five hits. Dumezich’s biggest mistake came in the first inning against Bridges. After Melissa Verde’s one-out single and a strikeout by Christi Orgeron, Bridges ripped a Dumezich curveball over the wall in center field "I saw a really good pitch," said Bridges, the reigning co-MVP of the Sun Belt Conference tournament. "We went in there preparing to see a certain pitch, and Christi saw two of the same pitches in her at-bat before me. I saw what she got, and I was prepared for what I thought I was going to see." As Bridges rounded the bases in jubilation after her 16th homer of the season, Dumezich had to think about her early mistake. "My curveball wasn’t working the way I wanted it to," Dumezich said. "When it is working, it’s effective. That’s the pitch she (Bridges) hit." According to UL co-coach Stefni Lotief, Bridges’ homer made a statement and set the tone for the Cajuns in their second win of the year over a ranked opponent. "I’m very proud of the way that the team came out and jumped on the ball from the first inning," Lotief said. "We put a lot of pressure on them by putting the ball in play and came up in some key situations to get some runs on the board." A&M loaded up the bases in the bottom of the first but came up empty as Cuevas fanned Dumezich for the final out. In the fourth, Rhi Kliesing blooped a leadoff single down the third-base line and moved to second on Kelsey Spittler’s sacrifice bunt as the Aggies threatened to make it a one-run game. Following a Dumezich strikeout, Alex Reynolds smacked a single to right fielder The Cajuns added another run in the top of the fifth on two A&M throwing errors to make it 3-0. Bridges followed with an RBI double in the sixth, and Verde drove in another run in the seventh on a fielder’s choice A&M stranded a runner in the fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, against Cuevas as the Cajuns improved to 37-4 when scoring first this season. Next up: UL’s first meeting against LSU since beating the Tigers to win the 2008 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. "I just tried to do what I was asked to do," said Cuevas, who is 9-1 in her past 12 starts. "The team really did great and stepped up well today. We’re going to keep preparing and get ready for our next opponent."
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