LAFAYETTE, La. - The No. 1 seed UL Lafayette rebounded from a narrow loss earlier in the day to win an elimination game in the semifinals by a 14-6 margin against No. 6 seed UL Monroe and advance to the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Championship game.
The Ragin' Cajuns (43-8-1) secured a rematch with the No. 2 seed South Alabama, which took down the UL Lafayette 4-2 in eight innings in the earlier game, in a winner-take-all championship game beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Lamson Park.
The Cajuns and Jaguars are now tied 2-2 in the season series, with the Cajuns winning the regular-season series 2-1.
The Warhawks fall to 25-27 following their best run in the Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship (three wins) since 2008.
After loading the bases in the first two innings, the Ragin' Cajuns found the scoreboard in the second, with a bases-loaded walk to freshman Haley Hayden and a sacrifice fly from sophomore Lexie Elkins to grab a 2-0 lead.
The Warhawks responded immediately with a five-run second inning on five hits. UL Monroe tied the game with RBI singles by sophomores Amye Barre and Courtney Dutreix, and took a 5-2 lead on a three-run homer from redshirt junior Miyuki Navarette.
UL Lafayette fought back with a run in the top of the third after sophomore Sara Corbello hit a sacrifice fly to score senior Shelbi Redfearn and plate the Ragin' Cajuns first of what would be 12 unanswered runs.
Elkins tied the game in the top of the fourth with her 18th home run of the season to knot the score at five.
After a pair of scoreless frames in the fifth, sophomore Samantha Walsh gave the Ragin' Cajuns a four-run lead with one swing of the bat, hitting the team's second grand slam in as many days to make it 9-5.
Sophomore Corin Voinché brought in a run on an infield single to make it 10-5 which was immediately followed by a bases-loaded triple by senior Natalie Fernandez, who then scored on a groundout by Hayden to make the score 14-5.
The Warhawks scored one run in the bottom of the seventh on one hit to close the gap to 14-6.
The championship game on Saturday will be televised live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app. The telecast is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch.