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Softball: Cajuns Sweep North Texas with 16 Strikeout Gem from WallaceDENTON, Texas – Jordan Wallace struck out a career-high 16 batters and Samantha Walsh hit a two-run home run to lead the Cajuns to their second straight Sun Belt Conference sweep and seventh consecutive win. The Cajuns defeated North Texas 5-0 and improved to 25-11 overall, and 8-4 in the Sun Belt with the win in Denton, Texas. Wallace was perfect in her first trip through the Mean Green lineup, striking out eight of nine batters. North Texas’ Brooke Foster would be the only Mean Green batter to get a hit off Wallace, going 2-for-3 in the game, breaking the perfecto with a bunt-single in the fourth. “I think her stuff, her mindset, her approach and her confidence level are better this year.” Head coach Michael Lotief said after the strong performance. “Her teammates are behind her and believing in her, so it’s a combination of all of that.” Wallace picked up her 15th complete game and her third shutout this season. She was absolutely dominant on the weekend, tossing 14.0 innings and allowing zero runs on four hits and 32 strikeouts, in two starts and one relief appearance. She finished the weekend 2-0 while picking up the save, improving to 15-6 on the season. “I felt good.” Wallace said after the game. “I felt like everything was working and I was spotting all my pitches. I felt like I could go out and beat them. I’ve been working on going pitch by pitch, and not thinking about what happened the play before that. “ Walsh hit her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth inning, to make the score 3-0. The Cajuns first run came by way of a Brianna Cherry RBI-single, scoring Natalie Fernandez. They added to the score in the fourth with another RBI-single, this one by Sarah Draheim, also driving in Fernandez. Fernandez finished the day 1-for-2 with two runs scored. Cherry picked up three hits, going 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Draheim went 2-for-4 with an RBI. “I thought we played well in all three phases.” Lotief said after the series. “We pitched well, offensively we had some good at-bats and good approaches at the plate, and defensively I thought we played well too. I liked the mindset of the kids and they keep working hard and playing hard.” The Cajuns will now leave conference play with a twi-night doubleheader at Lamson Park against Southern Miss on Wednesday, April 10 at 4:00 P.M. They will return to their conference schedule on April 6, with a home series against Middle Tennessee with a Saturday doubleheader and a single game on Sunday. “We’re worrying about the next game and taking it day-by-day.” Coach Lotief said about the seven-game winning streak. “Playing as hard as you can play, continuing to prepare and do what we do. This is a tough game to play, and a tough conference. We’ve got a lot of softball left to go.” — Ragin’ Cajuns — ———- Nick Ross
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