The 14th-seeded UL Ragin’ Cajun softball team took a big step toward its sixth Women’s College World Series appearance on Thursday night, defeating the No. 3-seeded and defending national champion Arizona State Sun Devils, 6-0, at Farrington Field in Tempe, Ariz.

"I’m proud of my kids," said co-head coach Michael Lotief, who picked up his 500th career victory. "We played free, and loose, and easy, and kept fighting on every pitch."

The win means that UL can secure a berth into the Women’s College World Series today by winning either Game 2 at 8:05p.m., or in Game 3 if necessary 30 minutes after.

The game was scoreless in the top of the fourth inning when UL struck, getting a solo homer from second baseman Paige Cormier off of Arizona State starter Dallas Escobedo before catcher Sarah Draheim followed with a solo blast of her own, giving the Cajuns a 2-0 lead.

"The whole key is just focusing on getting a good at-bat," Cormier said. "I didn’t think it was going to be out until I saw it go over the fence."

Escobedo has now given up 15 runs in 18 innings against UL in her career.

"I felt good for the first three innings," Escobedo said. "Then, I made some mistakes by getting a few pitches out and over the plate, and they took advantage of it.

The Cajuns made it 3-0 in the fifth inning when shortstop Nerissa Myers doubled, and then later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of first baseman Matte Haack.

That was more than enough for UL starting pitcher Jordan Wallace, who beat the defending national champs for the second time this year. allowing only two hits, and one walk, for her 27th win of the year, in a dominating 71-pitch performance.

"I had a little anxiety early on," Wallace said. "After I got going, I just let my defense make the plays around me. We just go at them pitch-by-pitch, and we just executed really well tonight."

"It was the same stuff," said Arizona State shortstop Katelyn Boyd, who was referring to the first time they faced Wallace on March 15. "There were no surprises. She (Wallace) was really good, and we just didn’t hit."

UL added three insurance runs in the seventh inning, and went on to beat the Sun Devils, 6-0.

UL has now outscored ASU 15-2 in the two games between the clubs.

"I think we’re a better team than when we played them the first time," Boyd said. "It didn’t show tonight, but we just have to execute better."

"We’re a much better hitting team than we showed tonight, Arizona State coach Clint Myers said. "We’re not making any excuse though. We just have to play better. We have to hit better, pitch better, and field better, because they (Louisiana) are a really good team."

Haack finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Brianna Cherry was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Natalie Fernandez added a 2-for-3 night.

"A lot of teams have lost the first game and have come back to win it," Boyd said. "We have to play a lot better though. We know that."

"We’re not taking anything for granted," Lotief said. "We understand how good Arizona State is, and how hard it is the advance from a Super Regional. We have to stay aggressive, continue to do what has made us successful, and rely on each other, just like we’ve done all year."