NEW ORLEANS – No. 6 national seed UL Lafayette defeated Texas with a 10-1 victory in the Lafayette Regional championship game on Sunday night and secured its third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Softball Championship Super Regionals.
As the No. 6 national seed, the Ragin’ Cajuns (47-8-1) will host No. 11 seed Arizona (44-14) which defeated LSU on Sunday to win the Tucson Regional. The win against Texas marked the ninth consecutive victory in NCAA Regional Tournament play dating back to 2011 for the Ragin’ Cajuns. This season will be the first time UL Lafayette will host a Super Regional round in school history.
South Alabama dropped its first game of the Tuscaloosa Regional but fought back with back-to-back wins in elimination games to advance to the regional final. The Jaguars received solid outings from junior Farish Beard, who took the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits, while striking out one to a walk in four innings, and senior Hannah Campbell who allowed only one hit in three relief innings.
UL Lafayette owns a 40-30 (.571) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament while South Alabama is 6-6 (.500) in its NCAA appearances.
Dates and times for NCAA Super Regional games will be announced by the NCAA following the completion of all Regional contests.
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Ragin’ Cajuns Advance to Third-Straight Super Regional with 10-1 Win over Texas
LAFAYETTE, La. - Gabby Felps broke a scoreless tie in the second inning with a pinch-hit two-run single to open the scoring for the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, as they went on to defeat the Texas Longhorns, 10-1, in the 2014 NCAA Softball Lafayette Regional Championship game on Sunday at Lamson Park.
This will be the first time hosting the Super Regional round in school history with the Cajuns facing the winner of the Tucson Regional Championship, Arizona.
“I love this team and the way they fight,” head coach Michael Lotief said after the game. “They have each other’s backs. We came together as a group and started talking about how we don’t have to be perfect today, we just have to get out there and fight.”
The Cajuns took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, when Felps came on to pinch hit for Natalie Fernandez with the bases loaded and two outs. Felps swung at the first pitch she saw from Texas starter Tiarra Davis (19-14) and hit a hard smash off the glove of second baseman Stephanie Ceo, allowing Shelbi Redfearn and pinch-runner Kassidy Zeringue.
The single by Felps would be enough for starting pitcher Christina Hamilton (27-2) to take it the rest of the way. Hamilton tossed the complete game, allowing one run on four hits and five walks, while striking out five.
It was the combination of Shellie Landry and Redfearn striking in the third inning to add to the lead. Landry lead off the inning with a single, which ended the day for Davis with the Longhorns bringing in Gabby Smith. Redfearn welcomed Smith, sending the first pitch into the left-field bleachers, giving the Cajuns a 4-0 lead.
Smith rebounded in the bottom of the fourth, helping her own cause with a solo home run to center field for the Longhorns’ first hit of the day off Hamilton, to make it 4-1. Lexie Elkins added to the Cajuns’ lead in the top of the fifth inning with her first hit of the regionals, sending a solo-home run to left field to lead off the inning and giving the Cajuns a 5-1 lead.
The floodgates opened in the top of the seventh inning when the Cajuns put up five runs on five hits, including the second home run of the day from Elkins, an RBI double by Redfearn and a three-run homer by Kelsey Vincent to give the Cajuns a nine-run advantage.
Hamilton finished the game up with her first 1-2-3 inning of the game, getting Big 12 Player of the Year Taylor Thom to pop up to Corin Voinché for the final out. Redfearn finished the game 3-for-3 with three runs scored for the Cajuns and three RBI, finishing the regional with five hits and a team-high seven RBI.
“We have a fanbase who comes out, game after game after game believing, providing energy and motivation,” Lotief added. “It’s ‘Cinderella-like,’ with the way that these kids believe and fight and the way this fanbase believes in them. You just have to stop and enjoy it. I don’t even want to think about next weekend right now. We want these kids to soak this in, to realize what they have accomplished.”
The Cajuns will await the announcement from the NCAA for game dates and times regarding next weekend’s NCAA Super Regionals.
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Alabama’s Traina Shuts Jaguars Out in Tuscaloosa Regional Final
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 2 University of Alabama softball got a pair of timely hits from Haylie McCleney and Kaila Hunt and 11 strikeouts from pitcher Jaclyn Traina en route to a 3-0 victory over No. 21 University of South Alabama softball on Sunday at Rhoads Stadium, eliminating the Jaguars from the 2014 NCAA Softball Tuscaloosa Regional.
McCleney delivered a two-out, two-run triple in the top of the second inning to give the national two-seed a 2-0 lead, and Hunt added insurance in the top of the fifth with an RBI single down the left field line that scored Danielle Richard for the three-run lead.
The three runs were all Traina (22-3) needed in terms of support, as the right-hander recorded her first double-digit strikeout total since February, striking out five Jaguars looking and holding USA (42-14) to only a pair of hits. Eleven strikeouts tied for the second-most this season for South Alabama.
Farish Beard took the loss for USA on Sunday, falling to 22-7 on the year after giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits, while striking out one to a walk in four innings. Hannah Campbell allowed only one hit in the three relief innings.
Chloe Rathburn and Emily Messer each recorded a hit apiece for USA on Sunday, a day during which the Jaguars had to defeat Alabama twice to advance to the Super Regional stage. South Alabama bounced back from an opening-round loss to USC Upstate on Friday by defeating SIU-Edwardsville and Upstate on Saturday for a spot in the final, marking USA's third trip to a regional championship in as many years.
""I am extremely proud of my kids," said USA head coach Becky Clark. "I can honestly say that they left everything on the field – there was no holding back. Our kids went after it 100 percent, even in front of a stadium full of people. They had the audacity to believe that they could come out and win two games. That is what you are supposed to do – you are supposed to step out on the field knowing that you can get it done. If you don't believe that you shouldn't be on the field. Our kids did that and I am proud of them for making that decision."
In the bottom half of the first frame, Blair Johnson reached on a fielder's choice, and Rathburn drew a two-out walk, both runners then advancing into scoring position on a passed ball. However, Alex Breeden went down swinging to signal a four-straight-strikeout span by Traina that ran through the second innings and ended with Messer's leadoff single, the first Jaguar hit of the day, in the bottom of the third.
Traina retired eight of USA's nine final batters in order to clinch the contest.
"She is tough," said Breeden. "She works and their program works so we knew that she would be a challenge. We felt like we were prepared for the challenge, but today she got the best of us. That doesn't mean that we weren't out there working hard and didn't give her a run for her money."
USA's 2014 club, led by seniors Campbell and Moss, set single-season program records in the following: Lowest ERA (1.29), Fewest Walks Allowed per Game (1.40), Most Strikeouts (416), Fewest Earned Run Allowed (70), Fewest Walks Allowed (76).
Clark led the program to its third-straight 40-win season, despite the program only concluding its eighth year of existence.
Campbell finishes her Jaguar career as the program's all-time leader in fewest walks allowed per seven innings (1.24), wins (83), saves (16), appearances (149), complete games (93), games finished (40), innings pitched (791.1) and strikeouts looking (180).
In a senior season hampered by an arm injury that kept her out for nearly four months, Moss batted .302 (13-for-43) with five runs and three RBI. She led the Jaguars at the 2014 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, going 6-for-15 (.400) with .400 slugging and on-base percentages.
Moss exits the program among the all-time top-10 in batting average (.301), slugging percentage (.452), hits (113), triples (5), home runs (11), RBI (65), total bases (170), sacrifice flies (5) and sacrifice hits (19).
"I'm extremely proud of our seniors and what they've done for this program," Clark said of the pair. "It kills me that I won't get to coach those kids again. It's been an amazing experience to coach those kids, not only because of what they've done on the field, but because they've 100-percent done it the right way – they've done it with class, and they've represented our program in a first-class manner."
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