The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns began the second weekend of the 2020 college softball season on a high note on Friday evening.

13th-ranked Louisiana defeated the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, 9-1, in 5-inning mercy-rule fashion at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.

The mercy-rule triumph was the third-straight for the Cajuns and the fourth in their last five games.

Louisiana got on the scoreboard first, plating a run in the bottom half of the first inning when Kaitly Alderink reached on a one-out single, before crossing the plate on a steal of home, her second stolen base of the frame, to give them a quick 1-0 lead.

The Cajuns added another run in the bottom half of the second inning, when Raina O'Neal belted a solo home run, her first of the season, to widen their advantage to 2-0.

UL extended their lead in the bottom half of the third inning, when Kendall Talley opened the frame with a single, before later scoring on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Julie Rawls, to make it 3-0.

North Dakota scored their lone run in the top half of the fourth inning, when Morgan Flann walked, before later scoring on a fielders choice groundball off the bat of Lauren Feld, to trim the deficit to 3-1.

Louisiana put the game away in the bottom half of the fourth, scoring five runs on five hits, including a run-scoring double by Bailey Curry, a two-run single off the bat of Talley, and RBI singles by Rawls and Sarah Hudek, to extend their lead to 8-1.

The Cajuns ended the game in the bottom half of the fifth inning, when Alissa Dalton drew a one-out walk, before scoring on a single off the bat of Talley, to make it 9-1, giving them the 5-inning mercy-rule victory.

Louisiana, who outhit North Dakota, 11-1, was led at the plate by Talley, who went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in, while  Alderink and Curry each collected two hits, with Rawls contributing two RBI's.

Megan Kleist (2-1) recorded the win in the circle for UL, tossing a 5-inning one-hit shutout, striking out 9 hitters in the process.

Nikki Pica (1-1) suffered the loss for the Fighting Hawks, allowing 7 runs on 7 hits over 3.1 innings of work.

With the victory, Louisiana improved to 5-1 on the young season, while North Dakota dropped to 3-3.

The Cajuns will be in action twice on Saturday, hosting Samford at 1:30 pm and LSU at 4 o'clock.

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