UL sophomore outfielder Shellie Landry

 

The 12th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajun softball team won their first game in the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship on Thursday, defeating the WKU Lady Toppers, 5-3, on a walk-off grand slam home run by Shellie Landry in the bottom half of the seventh inning at Lamson Park.

The victory extended Louisiana's current win streak to 13 games, and also gives them 34 wins in their last 36 games.

WKU, the fourth-seed, scored two runs in the top half of the first inning, and then one more in the top of the third, to take a 3-0, before Louisiana, the top-seed, scored a single run in the bottom of the third, cutting the lead to 3-1 at the end of three.

The Cajuns, the top-seed in the tournament, scored run in the second, third, and fourth to go on to the four-run win over WKU, the number four-seed.

The score stayed that way the bottom of the seventh inning, and to make the dramatic moment even better, it happened with two outs and nobody on.

Down to an out, and nobody on base, Hayley Hayden singled up the middle, before Lexie Elkins doubled right over the third base bag, giving the Cajuns runners at second and third.

Samantha Walsh then walked, setting up the heroics by Landry.

After falling behind in the count, 0-2, Landry got the count even, and then blasted a 2-2 pitch over the left-centerfield fence, plating four runs, and giving UL the incredible come-from-behind win.

For Landry, a sophomore from St. Thomas more High School, it was her fourth homer of the season.

Elkins led the way for Louisiana, going 3-for-4, along with an RBI, while Hayden collected two hits, and Landry provided the epic blast.

Christina Hamilton (23-1), the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year, picked-up the win, allowing only two earned runs in seven innings, as she recorded her 20th-consecutive victory.

Emily Rousseau (18-17) suffered the loss in the circle for WKU.

With the victory, the Cajuns improve to 42-7-1 on the season, while the Lady Toppers fell to 33-23-1.

Louisiana now moves on to take on second-seeded South Alabama in a winners bracket game on Friday at 2 o'clock, while WKU falls into the losers bracket, where they will take on ULM on Friday morning at 11 o'clock.

 

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