BATON ROUGE – The 22nd-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball team bounced back and kept its season alive with a 9-0 (5 inn.) victory over Omaha in an elimination game at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional on Saturday, May 20 at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge.
With the win, the Ragin’ Cajuns (48-14) advance to the regional final on Sunday, May 21 to square off once again with No. 10 national seed LSU (42-15). The championship round is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m., with Louisiana needing two wins to move on to the NCAA Super Regional round.
Louisiana is making its 15th consecutive appearance on Championship Sunday in the NCAA Regionals, a streak that dates back to 2008.
The response to an earlier 4-0 defeat to LSU on Saturday in the winners bracket final began immediately as the Ragin’ Cajuns offense struck for a pair of runs in their first at bat and later on put the Mavericks (33-17) away with a six-run fourth inning.
Louisiana jumped on the board in the first inning as Stormy Kotzelnick drew a one-out walk before Sophie Piskos moved her to third on a double down the right field line. Lauren Allred followed with a double of her own, plating both runners for a quick 2-0 lead.
Kandra Lamb and the defense prevailed after a leadoff single in the bottom of the first to prevent any type of Omaha response. Clinging to a two-run edge in the third, Lamb recorded a three-pitch strikeout to strand the last two runners the Mavericks would get on base.
In the fourth inning, Louisiana opened the flood gates, scoring six runs on six hits which led to an early end to the evening.
Alexa Langeliers led off the frame with a solo home run, her 12th of the season. Maddie Hayden singled before Mihyia Davis drew a walk, and the pair moved to second and third on a double steal prior to Kotzlenick plating Hayden with a single to left.
Piskos (2-for-3, double, 3 RBI) provided the first knockout blow with a two-run single that give UL a 6-0 lead before the Ragin’ Cajuns loaded the bases and Laney Credeur delivered the final knockout blow with a two-run single through the right side that increased the advantage to 8-0.
The Cajuns capped off the scoring in the fifth as Piskos plated Hayden on a groundout, finishing off her third three-plus RBI effort of the season.
Louisiana registered 12 hits, the seventh time this season with 12-or-more hits, and the most by the squad since posting 13 against Coastal Carolina on April 28.
Lamb was stellar in the circle and earned her 10th win of the season. The senior scattered two hits and struck out five in three innings of work. Heath came on in relief and threw the final two innings of the contest, striking out one and allowed no hits.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana and LSU face off for the second time this weekend in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, meeting on Sunday, May 21 in the championship round beginning at 1:00 p.m. Should Louisiana pick up a win, the if necessary game would begin approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.
The winner of Sunday’s championship round secures a spot in the NCAA Super Regional round to meet the winner of the NCAA Seattle Regional. The super regionals are set to run from Thursday-Sunday, May 25-28.
Sunday’s championship round can be seen on ESPN+ or heard in the Acadiana region on 103.3 FM The Goat and worldwide on the Varsity Network App.
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB [facebook.com]), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB [twitter.com]) and Instagram (@Louisiana.SB [instagram.com]) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Softball.
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here [apps.apple.com] for iOS/Apple platforms and here [play.google.com] for Android platforms.
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