UL Softball Routs Coastal Carolina, Wins Series
The league softball series win streak continues for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.
7th-ranked Louisiana defeated the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 10-2, in 5-inning mercy-rule fashion on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game, Sun Belt Conference series in Conway, South Carolina.
After dropping the first game of the series on Friday, 7-1, UL won the second game on Saturday, 5-0, before capturing the series on Sunday.
The Cajuns ended up outscoring the Chanticleers in the series, 16-3.
With the series triumph, The Cajuns ran their Sun Belt Conference series win streak to 56, a school and Sun Belt Conference record, as well as the longest current conference win streak in the nation.
Louisiana has not dropped a conference series since the weekend of St. Patrick's Day in 2013.
Louisiana got on the scoreboard first, in a big way in the top half of the first inning, plating six runs on five hits, including a two-run single by Sarah Hudek and a two-run double off the bat of Carrie Boswell, quick to grab a 6-0 lead.
The score stayed that way until the top half of the third inning, when UL put the game away, adding four more runs, courtesy of a two-run home run by Hudek, her fourth of the season, prior to an RBI triple by Alissa Dalton, to make it 10-0.
Coastal Carolina scored their only two runs of the game in the bottom half of the fourth inning, but it wasn't nearly enough, as Louisiana cruised to the 10-2 mercy-rule victory.
Louisiana, who outhit Coastal Carolina, 9-3, was led at the plate by Hudek, who went 2-for-3, including a homer, double, two runs scored, and four runs batted in, while Boswell drove home two runs.
Megan Kleist (6-5) recorded the win inside the circle for the Cajuns, allowing only one earned run on three hits over 5.0 innings while striking out five batters.
Kaitlin BeasleyPolko (4-5) suffered the loss for the Warhawks, allowing 6 runs on 4 hits, over 0.2 innings.
With the victory, Louisiana improved to 16-6, overall, and 2-1 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Coastal Carolina dropped to 13-7, and 1-2, respectively.
The Cajuns return to action on Wednesday, hosting Sam Houston St. in a non-conference doubleheader.