No. 1 UL Lafayette defeats No. 3 Texas State to win the 2016 Sun Belt Conference softball championship
Mobile, Ala. – The No. 1 seed UL Lafayette defeated the No. 3 seed Texas State, 12-0, to win the 2016 Sun Belt Conference softball championship on Saturday afternoon at Jaguar Field.
With the win, the No. 9-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns (43-7) claimed their 13th Sun Belt Conference tournament title overall and their second in the last three years. The tournament title gives UL Lafayette the automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Softball Championship. UL Lafayette awaits its opponent and location to be announced on the NCAA selection show on Sunday night at 9 p.m. CT. The selection show will be televised live on ESPNU.
The Ragin’ Cajuns defeated the Bobcats (39-20) in dominating fashion in the championship game. Junior Macey Smith threw five no-hit innings in relief to earn the win while the offense pounded three home runs and 10 hits to put 12 runs on the scoreboard to support her. Sophomore Aleah Craighton, named the Community Coffee Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, led the way with two hits, one home run, six RBI and a run scored in the game.
The Bobcats, the visiting team in the game, got off to a hot start as they put their first two runners on base and advanced them to second and third with one out. Junior Corrina Liscano stepped in and, following an eight-pitch at bat, struck out before a ground out ended the threat.
The Ragin’ Cajuns stepped to the plate in the bottom of the opening frame and mounted a two-out rally to plate two runs. Senior Shellie Landry singled and senior Kelsey Vincent walked before Craighton tripled down the left field line to plate both runners.
Landry stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the third inning after junior Haley Hayden reached base on an error and lined a double into the right center field gap to bring Hayden around to score. Vincent then launched her 13th home run of the season into the left center field stands to put the Ragin’ Cajuns up 5-0.
A seven-run fourth inning put the game away for UL Lafayette, highlighted by Craighton’s no-doubt home run to left field and sophomore DJ Sanders hitting a ball two pitches later just over the wall and the glove of a leaping Texas State left fielder Kimberlin Naivar. Each of their 17th home runs on the season provided the final margin of victory.
Texas State sophomore Randi Rupp, named to the All-Tournament Team following the game, was dealt the loss after she went 3 1/3 and allowed four earned runs on six hits and a walk.
The Ragin’ Cajuns will be making an 18th straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016. NCAA Championship regional play will be held on May 20-22 at 16 regional sites across the country. Each regional site will host four teams in a double-elimination tournament with the winner advancing to one of the eight Super Regional sites to play one team in a best-of-three tournament format.
The 2016 NCAA Women’s College World Series will be held at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium - OGE Energy Field in Oklahoma City, June 2-8.