University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Take the Sun Belt Title Outright With Game 2 Victory
5/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The 14th-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team took the 2005 Sun Belt Conference regular season title all for themselves by following Heather Bobbitt and Danyele Gomez to a 5-0 victory over Western Kentucky here Sunday afternoon in the second game of a doubleheader at the WKU Softball Field.
With the win, No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette (43-8, 15-1 Sun Belt) claimed the No. 1 seed for the upcoming 2005 Sun Belt Tournament here at WKU Softball Field May 12-14 and mathematically eliminated WKU (28-21, 9-7 Sun Belt) from the title race by increasing the lead to six games with only four games left to play.
The Cajuns have claimed the title outright before the final weekend of play for the second straight season and remain the only champion the league has even known since beginning play in 2001.
The Cajuns picked up their third straight victory after dropping the series opener on Saturday and improved to 19-3 all-time against the Hilltoppers. The win was the program's 80th in Sun Belt play (80-6 since 2001).
Bobbitt (14-0) scattered seven WKU base hits over seven innings as she claimed her fourth complete game shutout of the season. The defense backed her up turning two key double plays to cancel WKU's only scoring chances in the contest.
Gomez powered the Cajuns offense by picking up her fourth multi-home run game of the season – hitting a two-run home run in the first inning and a two-run shot in the seventh inning.
Gomez finished the game 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI increasing her weekend total to four home runs and 11 RBI. Gomez has now picked up 25 RBI over the Ragin' Cajuns last 12 games (had 14 last week in six games).
With the second home run of the game Gomez picked up the 50th home run of her illustrious career. The Metairie native joins former All-American Alana Addison as the only two players in program history to amass 50 career home runs.
Like Saturday's second game, the Ragin' Cajuns got on board quickly in Sunday's closer. Jill Robertson dumped a single into left field off of WKU starter Adrienne Lathrop. Gomez powered a home run over the right center field wall and gave the visitors a quick 2-0 lead.
Robertson scored on a passed ball after leading off the third inning with a single through the left side of the infield. The senior center fielder stole second base, moved over to third on a Lathrop wild pitch and on the next pitch scored on a pitch that slipped out of the glove of WKU catcher Samantha Young.
WKU hit into double plays in the fourth and fifth innings and Bobbitt wasted back-to-back one-out singles in the seventh inning to preserve the shutout.
Tiffany Hebert, who doubled twice in the game, picked up her second double of the game with one out in the seventh inning. Two batters later, Gomez increased the lead to 5-0 when she rode a Lathrop offering over the wall in left center field.
Back-to-back one-out singles from Samantha Young and Dana Rey gave the Hilltoppers two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh. Bobbitt worked out of the jam by getting Tasha Sevco to pop out to her in the circle and then Bailey Rolfs to fly out to Kelsey Cammarata in right field for the title-clinching out.
Louisiana-Lafayette earned its 21st Sun Belt series victory and remained undefeated all-time at 21-0-1.
The Ragin' Cajuns will return to action after final exams are complete next week. Louisiana-Lafayette ends its 2005 regular season Saturday-Sunday, May 7-8 at Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park against Middle Tennessee. Doubleheaders will be at 1 p.m. both days.
Louisiana-Lafayette 5, Western
Kentucky 0 (May 01, 2005 at Bowling Green, Ky.) (Game 2)
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Louisiana-Lafayette. 201 000 2 - 5 8 2 (43-8, 15-1 SUN BELT)
Western Kentucky.... 000 000 0 - 0 7 1 (28-21, 9-7 SUN BELT)
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Pitchers: Louisiana-Lafayette - Bobbitt. Western Kentucky -
Lathrop.
Win-Bobbitt(14-0) Loss-Lathrop(16-9) T-1:40 A-122
HR UL - Gomez 2.
GAME NOTES:
*** Victory allows Louisiana-Lafayette to clinch the 2005 Sun Belt Conference regular season title outright and claim the No. 1 seed for the SBC Tournament.
*** Heather Bobbitt remains unbeaten at 14-0 (8-0 in Sun Belt play).
*** Danyele Gomez's second home run was the 50th of her career. She now trails Alana Addison by only seven home runs for the career record - she is only a junior with an entire senior season left to play.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
