LAFAYETTE – A trio of batters produced the bulk of the runs and a trio of pitchers held down Princeton as the No. 13 national seed Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns captured an 8-0 (5 inn.) win in the NCAA Lafayette Regional opener on Friday, May 17 at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
Denali Loecker, Sam Roe and Alexa Langeliers each generated at least two RBI in combining for seven RBI while Chloe Riassetto, Loecker and Lexie Delbrey combined to pitch a two-hit shutout.
The win moves Louisiana (43-17) into the winner's bracket final of the NCAA Lafayette Regional on Saturday, May 18 at 2:00 p.m. against the winner of the Baylor-Ole Miss first round contest that followed the Cajuns-Tigers matchup.
Roe helped UL establish the lead in the first inning when her rip shot double into the right center field corner scored Mihyia Davis (walk) and Maddie Hayden (single) for a 2-0 lead three batters into the contest.
The Cajuns picked up additional RBI in the first inning on a Victoria Valdez triple and Alexa Langeliers sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-0, then broke the game wide open in the third inning when Loecker, who was coming off retiring six straight batters in relief in the circle, helped her own cause with a three-run home run to left center that pushed the margin to 7-0.
Langeliers ended the game early in the fifth inning, collecting her second RBI of the afternoon with a walk-off double.
Riassetto (2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 K) set the tone in the circle for the Cajuns by retiring the Tigers (29-17) in order in the top of the first. Loecker (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R) bridged the gap to the fourth inning with two innings of hitless relief and Delbrey (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R) capped off the shutout by securing the final two outs of the top of the fifth.
Louisiana won its NCAA Regional opener for the fifth straight appearance and moved within one win of reaching Championship Sunday for the 16th consecutive appearance.
Loecker had an outstanding NCAA postseason debut, earning the win in relief and collecting a season-high three RBI off of her home run in the third inning.
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