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Cajuns Welcome Back Girouard with Doubleheader SweepLAFAYETTE, La. – On a day in which the Ragin’ Cajuns welcomed back fellow alumni and former head coach Yvette Girouard to Lamson Park, the Cajuns swept Houston 9-1 and 10-5 on Wednesday, April 17. The wins improved their current winning streak to 14 games and are now 32-11 on the season. “It’s good to have Coach Girouard back here,” head coach Michael Lotief said of the pregame fanfare. “What she has been to me and [former coach Stefni Lotief] and this program, you can’t overstate it. You can always come home, that’s what it’s like being a Ragin’ Cajun.” “We played well today. We came out and played well. The crowed energized us. The festivities and the atmosphere made it fun to play in. The kids responded to the fans and the support and went with the momentum.” Nerissa Myers opened the doubleheader with her third leadoff home run of the season, crushing the ball over the scoreboard in right field. It was her sixth home run of the season and fifth since returning from an ankle injury on April 6. The Cajuns added two more runs in the inning, behind an RBI single by Sarah Draheim and a sacrifice fly by Shellie Landry. Draheim would later make it 4-0 with her 11th home run of the season, this one with nobody on base. The Cougars found the scoreboard in the fourth inning with a leadoff home run by Holly Anderson. Anderson broke a streak of 36 consecutive shutout-innings thrown by Jordan Wallace, dating back to March 30th against FIU. The Cajuns responded in their half of the fourth in a big way, scoring five runs and setting the Cajuns just three outs from a mercy-rule victory. The inning was highlighted by Sarah Draheim’s 3rd and 4th RBI’s of the game, on a single up the middle. Wallace would finish it in the fifth for the Cajuns, allowing a single and a walk in the inning, but striking out two, for the complete game. She tossed 5.0 innings, allowing just one run on two hits and three walks, while fanning 10 batters. She picked up double-digit strikeouts for the eighth time. Houston came out with their offense in full throttle in the second game, scoring three runs off starter Christina Hamilton. They got two runners on with a walk and a single, before catcher Haley Outon sent a ball out to left field, giving the Cougars their first lead of the day. The Cajuns took back the three runs in their half of the inning one two home runs. Brianna Cherry hit her tenth of the season to make it 3-1. Three batters later, Shellie Landry tied the game up with her 12th of the season, driving in Sarah Draheim who reached first base on a walk. Louisiana took over the lead in the second, when Matte Haack drove in Nerissa Myers and Cherry, with a two-out single. The two teams went scoreless in the third and fourth innings, before the Cajuns broke open the game with a five-run fifth inning to make it 10-3. Landry got the inning started with her second home run of the game. It was her 13th of the season, which is both a team and conference best, and her third multi-home run game of the season. Myers added to the lead later in the inning, with a two-run single scoring Sara Corbello and Samantha Walsh. The Cajuns added two more in the inning with RBI hits from Haack and Cherry. Christina Hamilton got the start in the circle for the Cajuns, picking up a no-decision, tossing 2.1 innings and allowing three runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter, while striking out three. Kristin Martinez was the winning pitcher for the Cajuns. She tossed 3.2 innings of relief, allowing two runs on eight hits and a walk. The win improved her to 3-3, making all of the Cajuns’ pitchers at or above .500 on the season. Wallace threw the seventh inning, striking out one batter in a three-up-three-down frame. The first five batters of the Cajuns’ batting order was the brightest point in a bright day for the Cajuns, combining for every run batted in and 15 runs scored. Sarah Draheim went 3-for-3 in the first game with four RBI and two runs scored, finishing the day 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored. Shellie Landry finished the day with five RBI, improving her team and conference-high to 50 RBI. Brianna Cherry and Nerissa Myers were run scoring machines in the game, scoring four and five runs, respectively. Myers now has 223 career runs scored and is just seven away from tying the All-Time Ragin’ Cajuns record. The Cajuns will take to the road as they return to conference action over the weekend, traveling to Boca Raton, Florida, for three games with FAU. They will open with a Saturday doubleheader starting at 5:00 P.M. (CST) and finish up with an 11:00 A.M. (CST) single game on Sunday. — Ragin’ Cajuns — Nick Ross
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