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Softball: Illegal Pitch Ends Pitching Duel in Cajuns’ FavorLafayette, La. – Samantha Walsh won’t be credited with a plate appearance in the seventh inning of Sunday’s Ragin’ Cajun softball 3-2 victory over Texas State, but it will be a trip to the plate not forgotten by Ragin’ Cajun fans. Walsh was at the plate with two outs, and the bases loaded, when an illegal pitch brought home senior Matte Haack, and sent the Cajuns home happy, and their sixth straight win. After jumping on the board early with a run in the first, the Cajuns put up five straight scoreless innings before the two-run seventh, capped off with the walk-off illegal pitch. "Every day is a new day." Head coach Megan Granger said after the wild finish. "You always have to be prepared and ready to go." Cajuns starting pitcher Jordan Wallace struggled at the start of the game, walking three batters in the first three innings, after walking only three in her first five starts all together. She got herself out of a jam in the third inning with a key strikeout to end the inning and strand two, before dialing in all-but shutting down the Bobcats. "[Wallace] came out a little shaky at the beginning." Granger said after the game. "She ended up making adjustments and finding a way to get it done. We told her to keep working hard [after the third inning], make adjustments and keep working through it. The Bobcats scored one in the second inning, getting a runner to third base by playing small ball, before eventually scoring on a passed ball. They added one more run in the fifth inning, taking advantage of a misplayed ball in left field, allowing a runner to score from second base, and take the lead. The Cajuns threatened in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with one out, only to come up empty with a ground out and a pop up. Bobcats starting pitcher, Anne Marie Taylor hit her stride in the final innings, working out of jams and retiring key batters. Taylor got the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and had a 2-1 count on catcher Sarah Draheim, when she was forced to leave with an apparent leg injury. Draheim would eventually take a walk and be pinch ran for by Cassidy White. White would reach second on a wild pitch before eventually scoring the game-tying run. That run came by way of a Shellie Landry single, for her team-lead 13th RBI of the season. Sara Corbello was walked in the next at bat, loading the bases for Walsh. With Walsh at the plate, Ashley Wright, the Bobcat’s third pitcher of the inning, brought her hand to her mouth, and did not wipe it off before touching the ball, an automatic illegal pitch, as stated in rule 10.13.2 in the NCAA Softball 2012-2013 Rules and Interpretations handbook. “10.13.2 No player or other team personnel may apply moisture or a foreign substance to the ball or do anything else to deface the ball. Wallace would pick up the complete game victory for the Cajuns, allowing two unearned runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out eight batters. She is now 5-0 on the season, with a 0.50 ERA in 28.0 innings. Through exactly 100 at-bats, she has struck out 42 batters. It was Wallace’s first seven-inning complete game this season, and the first game since the team’s loss to Iowa, in which they did not win by the eight-run mercy rule. The Cajuns will now travel to McNeese State on Wednesday for one game with the Cowgirls at 6:00 PM, before heading to Clearwater, Florida, for the NFCA Leadoff Classic. In Clearwater they will take on #13/14 Michigan, #12 South Florida, Illinois State, #21/25 Hofstra, and James Madison University. — Ragin’ Cajuns — Nick Ross
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