UL Softball Splits Two Games In Second Full Day Of NFCA Leadoff Classic
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun softball team split a pair of games in the second full day of the 2014 NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida on Saturday, defeating the Hofstra Pride, 7-4, before falling to the USF Bulls, 8-5.
In the game against Hofstra, Louisiana jumped on top with a run in the bottom of the first inning, when Natalie Fernandez walked, and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Shellie Landry, giving them a 1-0 advantage.
Hofstra tied things in the top of the second, when Erin Trippi belted a solo home run, making it 1-1.
The Pride then took the lead in the fourth, when Maggie Hawkins connected on a solo homer, giving them a 2-1 advantage.
The Cajuns retook the lead in the fifth, when Shelbi Redfearn doubled home Fernandez, to tie the game, 2-2, before Landry delivered a clutch, two-out single, scoring Lexie Elkins, to give UL a 3-2 edge.
Louisiana, who was held hitless until the fifth, added four runs in the sixth, including solo home runs by Sara Corbello and Gabrielle Felps, to extend the lead to 7-2.
Hofstra scored two runs in the seventh inning, and brought the tying run to the plate, but the Cajuns held on for the 3-run win.
Redfearn led the way for UL, offensively, going 2-for-2, with 2 RBI's, while Landry drove in three runs.
Victoria Brown (1-0) picked up the win for the Cajuns, while Taylor Pirone (0-1) suffered the loss for the Pride.
With the win, Louisiana improved to 8-4-1 on the season, while Hofstra slipped to 1-1.
In their second full game of the day, against USF, Louisiana scored five runs in the first inning off Bulls' starter Erica Nunn, with Samantha Walsh driving home two runs with a two-out double.
USF trimmed that lead to 5-2 with two runs in the second, courtesy of five walks, including two with the bases load, against UL starter Jordan Wallace.
The Bulls got a run closer in the third, when Stephanie Medina clobbered a solo home run over the right-field fence, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
USF scored two runs in the fourth to tie things, 5-5, before Ronnie Gajownik smacked a solo home run off of Christina Hamilton in the sixth, givving the Bulls their first lead of the game, 6-5.
The Bulls added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, when Ta'coia Williams launched a two-run homer, to make it 8-5.
That was all USF needed, as they handed Louisiana a 3-run defeat.
Fernandez and Walsh each had two hits for UL, who was outhit in the game, 9-6.
Sam Greiner (1-0), who pitched five innings of one-run ball, recorded the win for the Bulls, while Christina Hamilton (3-1) was tabbed with the loss for the Cajuns.
With the win, USF improved to 7-4, overall, and 3-0 in the tournament, while Louisiana fell to 85-1, overall, and 2-2 for the weekend.
The Cajuns will wrap-up play in the tournament on Sunday, as they take on Rutgers at 10 am.
You can hear all the play-by-play action on Sports Radio ESPN 1420 & espn1420.com, beginning with the pre-game show at 9:45 am.
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