UL softball sweeps Louisiana-Monroe to end regular season
Both teams were tested after a delayed rain Thursday forced a doubleheader on Saturday. Louisiana-Lafayette softball won the series in dramatic fashion, sweeping Louisiana-Monroe and outscoring them 34-7.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (41-11, 23-4 Sun Belt) had a fight against the ULM pitchers. Friday’s 14-1 win cemented the Sun Belt Conference regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The three-game sweep extended their winning streak to nine games.
“I’m thrilled to win the Sun Belt again,” Louisiana-Lafayette coach Gerry Glasco said. “Especially this year, because you have quality pitchers in the league.”
After:How Mason Holt Led Louisiana-Monroe Baseball’s Offense All Season
After:How Warhawks outfielder Lourdes Bacon found her way to ULM softball
After:ULM drops baseball series against Louisiana-Lafayette for 10th straight season
For the Ragin’ Cajun offense, hitting proved contagious. Alexa Langeliers finished the series 6-for-10 with four RBIs, four runs and two homers. Stormy Kotzelnick finished 4 for 11 with five runs, seven RBIs and a homer.
“The bats were really good,” Glasco said. “I thought the hits and the pressure moments, the two-hit hits and the behind hits, I think they did a really good job.”
The bullpen Ragin’ Cajuns finished the series with a total of 19 innings allowing 13 hits, seven runs, nine walks and 27 strikeouts led by Megan Schorman’s 8⅔ innings thrown allowing one run on five hits with 13 strikeouts.
Strip away a few big innings from UL and the Warhawks (27-26, 10-17) had all three games within reach. Madison Blount led the Warhawks at the plate, going 2 for 5 with three RBIs, a run and a home run. Alexa Chavez went 4 for 11 with a run.
Victoria Abrams pitched 6⅔ innings allowing 10 hits, nine runs, five walks and seven strikeouts in Saturday’s games.
The Warhawks end the regular season with their best result since coach Molly Fichtner took over in 2018.
“Any winning season is a great season, especially since we haven’t had one,” Fichtner said.
Up next: Sun Belt Tournament
The Sun Belt Conference tournament is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Mobile, Alabama.
The Warhawks fall to the bottom half of the Sun Belt standings. Their ranking will determine what time they play on Tuesday.
Louisiana-Lafayette got an extra day off, starting the tournament at 10 a.m. Wednesday against the winner of game No. 8 vs. No. 9.
“The most important thing is that there’s nobody we haven’t seen at the conference tournament,” Fichtner said. “There’s no one we’ve seen less than three games.”
Emely Hernandez covers high school athletics and sports at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @emhernandeznews.