Softball:UL Captures Eighth SBC Tournament Title
UL Captures Eighth SBC Tournament Title
TROY, Ala.-Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns left no doubt in the Sun Belt Conference
Tournament Championship game as they blasted ULM 13-0 at the Troy Softball
Complex.
The Cajuns tallied 13 runs on 14 hits including three home runs. Five
different Ragin’ Cajuns players collected multiple hits in the game. Karli
Hubbard (Lafayette, La.) and Holly Tankersley (Kirbyville, Texas) paced all
Cajuns’ players with three hits each, while Lana Bowers (Crosby, Texas),
Katie Smith (Ruston, La.) and Vanessa Soto (San Diego, Calif.) all collected
two hits apiece.
Bowers, Soto and Tankersley each collected home runs in the contest.
In the circle, Ashley Brignac (River Ridge, La.) collected her third victory
of the tournament. She worked 5.0 innings surrendering just three hits in
the shutout. Brignac fanned five batters en route to being named the SBC
Tournament Most Outstanding player.
Other Cajuns named to the All-Tournament team included Gabriele Bridges
(Lafitte, La.) and Melissa Verde (Beaumont, Texas). Bridges and Verde both
finished the tournament with a record eight RBI.
Aside from the Cajuns, the All-Tournament team consisted of Kandace Causey
(ULM), Molly McNeill (ULM), Megan Miller (ULM), Mallory Cantler (North
Texas), Ashlyn Williams (Troy), Terri Ellingsworth (WKU) and Rebecca Horesky
(WKU).
The Cajuns jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Tankersley led off the inning by blasting a home run to straight away
centerfield. Verde followed with a walk. Verde came around to score as
Bowers belted a two-run homer of her own to left centerfield. A throwing
error by ULM allowed Brooke Brodhead (Lafayette, La.) to reach first safely.
Brodhead moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a Katie
Smith (Ruston, La.) single to shortstop. Brodhead scored the final run of
the inning for the Cajuns as Hubbard singled to third base.
The Cajuns increased their lead to 10-0 in the top of the fourth inning,
scoring six runs on six hits. Smith led off the inning with a walk. She
stole second and moved to third on a groundout. A bunt single by Hubbard
gave the Cajuns runners on the corners. Soto hit a deep fly ball to left
centerfield. Initially, it appeared that Soto had hit her NCAA-leading
eighth sacrifice fly, but the ball continued to carry and ended up being her
seventh home run of the season. Tankersley followed with a single and
proceeded to steal second base. Bowers singled to centerfield to plate
Tankersley and advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Brodhead waked
and Bridges singled to left field to score Bowers from second. A wild pitch
moved the runners up a base and a Smith single plated Brodhead for the final
run of the inning.
The Ragin’ Cajuns added three more runs in the top of the fifth inning for
the final margin of victory. Louisiana scored three runs on four hits to
extend their lead to 13-0.
With the win, the Ragin’ Cajuns secure the Sun Belt Conference’s automatic
berth into the NCAA Regionals. The Cajuns will find out which Regional they
will be appearing in at 9:00 p.m. Central Time during the Regional Selection
Show on ESPN-U.
-www.RaginCajuns.com-
Chris Whitehead
UL-Lafayette Sports Information
201 Reinhardt Drive
Lafayette, LA 70506
(337) 851-2255
www.ragincajuns.com
whitehead@louisiana.edu
