Softball: Ellyson no-hits Texas State in tourney game + photo gallery & video

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, May 11, 2018

The last thing Summer Ellyson wanted to do was portray what happened Friday as the byproduct of a one-on-one showdown with Texas State’s Randi Rupp, the Sun Belt Conference’s 2018 Pitcher of the Year.

Rather, it was a win-the-moment mindset for Ellyson and the No. 21 Ragin’ Cajuns.

And second-seeded UL did just that, beating the top-seeded and No. 23 Bobcats 1-0 behind Ellyson’s no-hitter in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament winner’s-bracket game at Lamson Park.

The victory vaulted 38-13 UL into Saturday’s championship game.

More: Sun Belt Softball Championship scoreboard

“I just wanted to out-pitch her today,” Ellyson said, “and that’s all I had in mind was just ‘out-pitch them’ and ‘have my defense’s back and have my hitters’ backs.’ ”

Really, that’s all.

Ellyson, in fact, was asked directly if she thought she should have been the SBC Pitcher of Year.

The sophomore from Teurlings Catholic High answered with a quick “no,” responding with deference to the two-time award winner.

Yet it sure seemed as if Ellyson was pitching with a mission as she faced the minimum and came within one third-inning walk of a perfect game.

“I get blown away every single game,” Cajuns third baseman Kara Gremillion said of Ellyson’s performance.

“I don’t take anything for granted, and I appreciate every pitch she throws, every batter she strikes out, because she’s really stepping up and being a leader for us, and it’s amazing to watch her do that every single game.”

The no-hitter was Ellyson’s second of the season, along with one against Southeastern Louisiana back in February.

It was just the sixth individual no-hitter in Sun Belt Tournament history, the last being delivered by UL’s Donna Bourgeois against Florida Atlantic in 2010.

The Cajuns have produced four total SBC no-hitters, including one by Brooke Mitchell against North Texas in 2004 and a combined one in which Macey Smith threw all but the first five pitches – also against Rupp and Texas State – in the 2016 Sun Belt title game.

Now add Ellyson’s to the list.

“Summer was Summer, and outstanding,” Cajuns coach Gerry Glasco said with reference to the first team All-Sun Belt pitcher. “(She) just really dominated the game from the very beginning; our defense was outstanding behind her.”

The Cajuns played error-free ball for Ellyson, who struck out the side in order in the first and recorded four of her six strikeouts in the first two innings.

Ellyson, who used just 80 pitches, said she was “super-pumped” from the time the Cajuns first went to bat.

“I just went out there and I was like, ‘Okay, I know that this team (UL) is gonna hit,’ ” she said. “It gave me a feeling like I can play super-free today.”

The only problem: Rupp appeared to feel similarly for the now 40-14 Bobcats.

She wound up allowing only two hits by the Cajuns, who didn’t break through until Kelli Martinez scored on Gremillion’s sacrifice bunt in the sixth inning.

The fact it was a battle with a pitcher about as stingy as her changed nothing, Ellyson insisted.

“My mindset’s pretty much the same every time I go out there – just play free, and do what I know how to do,” she said.

“I knew she (Rupp) was going to go out there and play free too, so it was just like, ‘Okay, whoever’s gonna do it the best is gonna win the game today.’ ”

More: All-Sun Belt Conference Softball

The fact a no-hitter was on the line also did little to alter Ellyson’s approach.

She’s not a scoreboard-watcher anyway, mostly because it seems whenever she has looked up in the past something would go wrong.

“So I try not to think about it,” she said of all the zeros being posted.

“I try not to look at it, and I just go out there and throw every pitch the best I can.”

WHAT HAPPENED

Texas State’s Christiana McDowell reached on a third-inning walk, but the inning ended when she was called out for leaving first base early.

The Cajuns manufactured their lone run as Kelli Martinez reached on a bunt, stole second and advanced to third on a same-play error, then scored on Gremillion’s squeeze with one out in top of the sixth.

UL’s initial plan, however, wasn’t to bunt.

“My first thought was, ‘We’ve got the perfect batter at the plate, because Kara (Gremillion) never strikes out; she’s gonna put the ball in play, she goes up the middle well,’ ” Glasco said.

“But then when they called timeout and they kept talking it was the perfect time to communicate with each player and have a plan. We were hitting on the first pitch, and if the situation was right we knew we could put the squeeze in.”

Gremillion had no doubt either.

“I knew how important that one run would be, just because of how close of a game it was," she said. "My thought process was ‘just put the ball on the ground; she’s going no matter where it is.’ "

Ellyson later ended it in the seventh with a strikeout, a popup and a flyball out to left.

LAGNIAPPE

Martinez and Brittany Rodriguez produced UL’s only two hits. … The Cajuns didn’t score their first run until the sixth for the second time in as many tournament games, including Thursday’s 2-1 win over No. 3 seed Georgia State. … Ellyson improved to 21-7 on the season.

UP NEXT

UL plays in Saturday’s 1 p.m. title game with an automatic NCAA Tournament berth at stake. The Cajuns will face the winner of Friday night’s elimination game between Texas State and No. 5 seed Troy.