University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Steamroll Purdue For Louisiana Classics Title
2/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
LAFAYETTE – The fifth-ranked
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team bounced back from a
shocking 1-0 loss to Nicholls State by issuing an all-out
ambush on Purdue in the championship game of the 19th Annual
Louisiana Classics here Sunday afternoon at Ragin' Cajuns
Softball Park.
No. 5 Louisiana-Lafayette (12-1) chased Purdue starter Diana LaRiva before an out was recorded in the first inning and wound up touching the Boilermakers pitching for 15 runs on 16 hits in producing a 15-5, five-inning run rule rout in game nine of the tournament.
The Ragin' Cajuns pushed across 13 runs in the third through fifth innings combined to runaway from Purdue after the score was 2-1 heading into the third inning.
Jill Robertson and Danyele Gomez, the Cajuns 1-2 hitters, each had three hits and combined to go 6-for-9 at the plate.
Crystal George hit two triples driving in a game-high five RBI – the first triple came in the third inning and increased the Cajuns lead to 5-1. George became the first Cajuns player since Lynn Britton on April 15, 1995, to post two triples in a single game.
Brooke Mitchell pitched three innings
allowing just two hits and no earned runs as she collected
the 100th victory of her career. Mitchell joins former
All-American Kyla Hall as the lone 100-game winners in
program history. Mitchell also crept within four victories
of tying Hall for the all-time career lead.
Louisiana-Lafayette led 15-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Purdue's DaQueta Johnson hit a grand slam off of reliever Heather Bobbitt to cut the final margin to 10 runs.
The first four at bats of the game for Louisiana-Lafayette sent a clear message that the squad was ready to bounce back in a hurry. Jill Robertson led off with a single into right field which was immediately followed by a sharp liner through the left side by Danyele Gomez.
After LaRiva issued a free pass to Brittany Bryant, Joy Webre ripped a shot up the middle of the infield to score Robertson and Gomez for an early 2-0 lead. LaRiva then walked Lacey Bertucci to reload the bases and cause a pitching change.
Brooke Baker relieved LaRiva and was effective until a five-run outburst by the Ragin' Cajuns in the third inning.
Bryant led off with a single into right center field which was followed by a foul out from Webre. Bertucci drew another walk to put runners on first and second. Ashley Evans grounded harmlessly to shortstop Tricia Lilley who flipped the ball over to Shelli Messer for the force out.
Tara Hamilton kept the inning alive for the Cajuns when she ripped a shot past Messer into left field to load the bases. George cleared the basepath when she sent a hooking fly ball deep into the right field corner that Johnson could not reach. George's triple started a string of five straight two-out runs for the Cajuns who increased their lead to 7-1.
The five-run third chased Baker and brought in Melissa Burns. Burns couldn't stop the bleeding as the Cajuns offensive arsenal erupted for eight runs off of the freshman from Miami.
Back-to-back one-out walks issued to Bertucci and Evans set up the stage for George's second triple of the contest. Hamilton grounded out to Burns for the second out, but George started another two-out rally when she placed the ball in nearly the exact same spot in the right field corner. George's second three-bagger plated Bertucci and Evans and pushed the lead to 9-1 – the minimum margin to win after five innings.
RBI singles from Robertson and Gomez increased the lead to 11-1 after four complete.
No. 5 Louisiana-Lafayette wasn't done taking out its frustration from Saturday's performance which saw the Cajuns collect only three runs over 15 innings of play.
Desi Chatman led off the top half of the fifth inning with a double through the right side. Leslie Pierce dropped a single into shallow center field putting runners on the corners. Deserea Griffin then followed with a single up the middle to plate Chatman and make it 12-1.
Kelsey Cammarata then walked to load the bases. Purdue re-entered LaRiva and she issued a walk to pinch hitter Codi Runyan to walk in pinch runner Ashley Kirchberg for a 13-1 lead.
On the very next at bat, Hillary Guidry hit a single down the right field line to score two more runs.
Bobbitt ran into trouble in the bottom half of the fifth inning. She allowed a one-out double to Messer and then booted a grounder from Staci Falzon. Following the error, Andrea Hillsey walked and Johnson took advantage on the next at bat when she launched a home run into the left field bleachers.
Louisiana-Lafayette ended the tournament with a 4-1 record while Purdue finished 3-2. The Cajuns claimed the championship of their third and final tournament being played at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park this season.
Ragin' Cajuns named to the All-Tournament team included Brooke Mitchell, Jill Robertson, Crystal George, Joy Webre, Lacey Bertucci and Danyele Gomez.
No. 5 Louisiana-Lafayette will now turn its attention to the 10th Annual NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., next weekend. The prestigious event will be held Friday-Sunday, Feb. 25-27 at South Commons Stadium and Complex. The Cajuns will face DePaul, San Diego State and North Carolina in pool play beginning with DePaul at 1:30 p.m. (CST) on Friday, Feb. 25.
Louisiana-Lafayette 15,
Purdue 5 (Feb 20, 2005 at Lafayette, La.)
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Louisiana-Lafayette. 205 44 - 15 16 3 (12-1)
Purdue.............. 100 04 - 5 4 0 (6-3)
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Pitchers: Louisiana-Lafayette - Mitchell; Bobbitt(4). Purdue
- LaRiva; Baker(1); Burns(4).
Win-Mitchell(9-1) Loss-LaRiva(2-1) T-2:22 A-339
HR PUR - Johnson.
LaRiva faced 5 batters in the 1st.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
