STATESBORO, Ga. – Sophie Piskos set the tone early at the plate, then hitting became contagious in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach as No. 23 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball rolled to a 12-1 (6 inn.) win over Georgia Southern on Sunday, March 20 at Eagle Field in Statesboro, Ga.
The win clinched the series victory for Louisiana (17-8, 4-2 Sun Belt), extending the program’s nation-leading total of consecutive conference series won to 66 straight dating back to March 2013.
Piskos, who finished 4-for-4 with an RBI in each plate appearance, helped the Ragin’ Cajuns build a 4-1 lead by producing an RBI with a pair of singles and a double in her first three trips to the plate through the fourth inning.
Sam Landry (7-2, 2.48 ERA) held the Eagles (7-15, 2-4 Sun Belt) in check by scattering six hits and yielding just a single run over her five innings in the circle.
The offense assured Landry’s efforts would be rewarded by unleashing an eight-run explosion on Georgia Southern pitching in the sixth inning that drastically expanded the advantage.
Louisiana’s breakaway from the hosts began with back-to-back RBI doubles from Stormy Kotzelinck and Jourdyn Campbell followed by another Piskos RBI single that increased the lead to 7-1. Moments later it was back-to-back, two-run pinch-hit deliveries from Samantha Graeter and Kayla Falterman that pushed the margin into double figures.
When the dust settled the Ragin’ Cajuns had pieced together eight runs off of seven hits to seal the game and another Sun Belt series win.
Vanessa Foreman pitched a scoreless frame in the bottom of the sixth to close out Landry’s second win of the weekend set in Statesboro.
Louisiana’s offense generated double-digit runs and base hits all three games against Georgia Southern, out-scoring the hosts 33-16 and out-hitting them 41-20.
The Ragin’ Cajuns claimed an SBC series from the Eagles for the seventh time in as many meetings and improved upped their all-time series lead to 20-3 (18-3 in SBC games).
NUMBERS TO KNEAUX
4: All four hits from Sophie Piskos resulted in an RBI (tied her season and career-high RBI total).
5: With five doubles, the Ragin’ Cajuns finished the series with 14 doubles off of Georgia Southern’s pitching staff.
7: Louisiana picked up seven more two-out hits, raising the team’s weekend series total in Statesboro to 19.
8: Totals runs Louisiana posted in the sixth inning to put the game away.
9: With two RBI on her pinch-hit double in the sixth inning, Samantha Graeter became the ninth Ragin’ Cajun to reach double digits in RBI (now has 10).
10: The Ragin’ Cajuns collected 10 base hits with RBI chances, finishing the day 10-for-16 (.625) with RISP.
10: With a 2-for3 showing at the plate, Jourdyn Campbell posted her team-leading 10th multiple-hit game of the season. Five of those multi-hit efforts have come in the past seven games.
12: Maddie Hayden extended her current hitting streak to 12 games – the longest hit streak of the season so far by a Ragin’ Cajun.
15: Sophie Piskos increased her season RBI total to 15, a figure she’s posted in only 55 plate appearances.
18: Number of extra-base hits (out of 41 total hits) that Louisiana generated in the series in Statesboro. The squad posted 14 doubles and four home runs.
20-3: Louisiana's lead in the all-time series with Georgia Southern following Sunday’s result.
33: Number of runs that the Ragin’ Cajuns offense created during the three-game set in Statesboro.
.412: After two weekends of Sun Belt Conference play, the Ragin’ Cajuns are batting .412 and averaging 8.8 runs per game.
.441: The Ragin' Cajuns batting average in the series vs. the Georgia Southern pitching staff (41-for-93).
66: For the 66th consecutive Sun Belt Conference series, Louisiana came away with the series win.
.720: Slugging percentage for Louisiana in the series, collecting 67 total bases over 93 at-bats.
3,279: Number of days that have passed since Louisiana's streak of Sun Belt series won began back on March 29, 2013, with a doubleheader sweep of FIU at Lamson Park.
UP NEXT
No. 23 Louisiana takes a four-day break from game action before resuming play from Friday-Sunday, March 25-27 at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park with a Sun Belt Conference series against UT Arlington (11-11, 3-3 Sun Belt).
The Ragin’ Cajuns and Mavericks are scheduled to meet at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 12:00 p.m. on Sunday at Lamson Park.
Games 1 and 3 of the series are set to air on ESPN+ with Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Dan McDonald and NFCA, Louisiana Sports, and UL Athletics Hall of Famer Yvette Girouard on the call. The entire series is being broadcast on ESPN Lafayette 103.3 FM and 1420 AM with Steve Peloquin and Bobby Neveaux providing commentary.
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