MOBILE, Ala. ? Junior Ashley Elmore’s two-run walk-off home run in game two helped the University of South Alabama softball team to split a key Sun Belt Conference series versus No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette. The Cajuns took the opener 5-4 in a 10 inning contest, while the Jags bounced back to take game two, 8-0, in five innings.
The five-inning loss was the Cajuns’ first conference road loss of the season, as well as the first time ULL has lost by the eight-run-rule this season. USA stands at 28-16 overall and 8-6 in the SBC, while Louisiana-Lafayette is now 35-12 overall and 8-6 in conference play.
GAME ONE: Louisiana-Lafayette 5, South Alabama 4 (10 Innings)
ULL’s Holly Tankersley put the Cajuns on the board first with a two-run shot to rightfield, her 12th of the season. The Tankersley homer also scored Karli Hubbard, who drew a walk to lead off the game.
The Jaguars cut the deficit to 2-1 in the second inning. Second baseman Jenny Stevens reached on a one-out fielder’s choice and scored two batters later from second base on a single up the middle by catcher Kristen Hayes.
Louisiana-Lafayette had a huge opportunity to add to its lead in the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and no outs, but pitcher Linden Jones and the Jag defense were able to get out of the inning without giving up a run. USA tied the game at two in the bottom of the inning. Leftfielder Evelyne Pare drew a walk with two outs and no runners on base and scored two batters later on an RBI single by designated player Tara Donaldson.
The score remained tied, taking the game into extra innings and reached the ninth before Louisiana-Lafayette was able to retake the lead. ULL second baseman Tara Hamilton led off the inning with a double down the leftfield line and advanced to third on a single by Lana Bowers. Leftfielder Vallie Gaspard hit into a ground out, plating Hamilton for the lead.
With one out in the bottom half of the ninth inning, Elmore reached on a fielding error by Hamilton and later scored on the Cajuns’ second error of the inning, this one by centerfielder Karli Hubbard. Hubbard looked as if she was going to record the final out of the game, but the ULL outfielder and shortstop Codi Runyan collided causing Hubbard to drop the ball, allowing the Jags to tie the game at three runs apiece.
The Ragin’ Cajuns added two more runs in the 10th inning courtesy of two base-hits. Lacey Bertucci, who was placed at second due to the International Tie-Breaker Rule, came around to score on Desi Chatmam’s single to left. Chatman then also came into score on Runyan’s sacrifice fly.
With two outs in the bottom half of the 10th, the Jaguars again tried to answer. Hayes then drove in her second run of the game with a single up the middle to score centerfielder Kait Chernomaz, who was placed at second base. South Alabama, however, was unable to get any more runs across, suffering a hard-fought 5-4, 10-inning affair.
Jones (17-9) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on 10 hits, while walking four and striking out eight batters in 10.0 innings of work. Brittany Cuevas (22-7) picked up the win, giving up four runs on eight hits, while walking four and striking out eight in 10.0 innings pitched.
GAME TWO: South Alabama 8, Louisiana-Lafayette 0 (5 Innings)
In game two of the doubleheader, South Alabama jumped out early, scoring in the second inning. Shortstop Carolina Mendoza drew a one-out walk and reached third after advancing on a wild pitch and an errant throw by ULL’s catcher Jessica Lemoine. With two outs, third baseman Taylor Rich knocked an RBI single to centerfield, plating Mendoza to take a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Jaguars broke the game open when they scored the first four batters of the inning before an out was recorded. The big hit of the inning came off the bat of Pare, who plated Jag pinch runner Katie Guire and Rich.
In the fifth, the Jags put the game away for good with three more runs. Chernomaz reached on the Cajuns third error of the game to lead off the inning and later moved to second after Mendoza worked the count full and drew a walk. Both runners then advanced on a wild pitch by Tankersley, who came into the game one inning earlier, with Hayes at bat. Chernomaz was then plated on a ground-out to first base by Hayes. With two outs and a 2-1 count, Elmore then hit a two-run home run down the rightfield line to end the game in the fifth inning with a score of 8-0.
Freshman Beth Pilgrim (7-4) earned the win, pitching a complete-game, while limiting Louisiana-Lafayette’s high-powered offense to just two hits and not allowing more than two base runners in an inning. Starting pitcher Shar Sigur (2-1) took the loss for the Cajuns, allowing five runs on six hits and walking five batters in 3.1 innings of work.
USA will be back in action on Tuesday for a doubleheader against Alabama A&M beginning at 2 p.m. at Jaguar Field. The Jags will back to SBC play Saturday and Sunday when they travel to Miami, Fla., for a three-game series against Florida International.
