UL Softball Wins 2019 Sun Belt Softball Tourney Crown
Once again, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns rule the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
7th-ranked Louisiana, the top-seed in the tournament, won the league's postseason crown on Saturday, defeating the 6th-seeded Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 1-0, in the title game in San Marcos, Texas.
For UL, it's their 15th tournament championship in the 20 years of the event, and their 3rd in the last four years.
The Cajuns, who went 3-0 in the tournament, including a win over Texas St., and two wins over Coastal Carolina, improved their all-time record in the SBC Tournament to 61-9.
Saturday marked the sixth-straight year that Louisiana played in the Sun Belt Tournament championship game, including the 18th time in the 20-year history of the event.
Louisiana also extended their current win streak to 27 games with the triumph, the second longest win streak in school history, surpassed only by the 28-straight games that the 2012 team won.
In addition, the win gave UL 50 victories on the season, their first 50-win campaign since 2012 (53-6), and the 12th 50-win season, overall, in program history.
The Cajuns, who went a perfect 28-0 against Sun Belt Conference schools this season, receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Regionals, with the tournament title.
Louisiana will be making their 21th-consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, including their 29th in the last 30 years.
Louisiana got on the scoreboard first, plating an unearned run in the bottom half of the first inning, when Kara Gremillion reached on an infield single, before later scoring on a two-out single off the bat of Alissa Dalton, to give them a quick 1-0 lead.
That turned out to be the only run of the game, as UL held on for the one-run victory, and the tournament title.
Louisiana, who outhit Coastal Carolina, 5-2, was led at the plate by Alissa Dalton, who went 2-for-3 with a run batted in.
Summer Ellyson (37-4) recorded the win inside the circle for the Cajuns, tossing a complete-game, two-hit shutout, while striking out 7 batters.
For Ellyson, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, it was her third win in the tournament, giving her the second-most wins in school history in a single season.
Ashley Guillette (16-8) suffered the loss for the Chanticleers, allowing only one run, unearned, on 5 hits, over 6.0 innings.
With the victory, the Cajuns improved to 50-4, overall, while Coastal Carolina fell to 39-21.