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21st-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns Power Their Way Past Southeastern

Posted at 9:58 PM, Apr 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-11 22:58:02-04

HAMMOND – 21st-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball used its offense to overwhelm Southeastern Louisiana 13-2 (6 inn.) in a midweek matchup at North Oak Park.

The Ragin’ Cajuns (26-10) piled up 14 hits, the fourth straight game reaching double figures, and used five extra base hits (three home runs) to create distance from the Lions (23-16).

Casidy Chaumont’s two-run double in the second inning answered SLU’s two-run first inning. In the fourth inning back-to-back home runs from Kalyn Watts and Kourtney Gremillion padded the lead and then a seven-spot in the sixth inning put the Lions away.

Louisiana closed the game with 13 unanswered runs in collecting its 12th come-from-behind triumph.

UP NEXT

No. 21 Louisiana returns to Lamson Park for a key Sun Belt Conference series with No. 24 Texas State (30-8), the current league leader, Saturday-Sunday, April 14-15.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns and Bobcats are slated to square off in a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday that will be televised on Cox Sports Television. The series finale is at 1 p.m. on Sunday.  

LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS

Kalyn Watts, a transfer from SLU, finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a game-high three RBI off a solo homer and two-run triple. Watts homered for the second straight game.

Kourtney Gremillion posted her first career four-hit game (4-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) and Louisiana received an additional two RBI apiece from Alissa Dalton, Kelli Martinez, Chaumont and Jolie Readeaux who hit her first collegiate home run.

In the circle, Kylee Jo Trahan received the start and yielded just one earned run and three hits over four innings. Carrie Boswell and Casey Dixon each pitched one inning of scoreless relief to close the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Lions took advantage of a one-out walk and a passed ball in the bottom of the first inning to pick up a pair of runs.

Louisiana answered right back when Chaumont brought home Lexie Comeaux and Gremillion, who both singled in the previous two at bats, then added runs off a Martinez ground out and Dalton single to pull ahead 4-2.

Trahan kept the momentum with the Ragin’ Cajuns when she worked a ground ball from SLU’s Mahalia Gibson with the bases loaded to end the bottom of the second.

Watts and Gremillion chased SLU starter Rachel Hayes with their back-to-back homers to open the fourth inning that extended the lead to 6-2.

A total of 11 hitters went to the plate in the sixth inning during the Ragin’ Cajuns seven-run outburst. The inning featured Readeaux’s first home run, which moved Louisiana into double digit runs, and Watts’ second extra base hit (two-run triple).

NOTEWORTHY

– Louisiana’s three home runs marked a season-high total. Jolie Readeaux became the eighth different Cajun to hit a home run.

– The Ragin’ Cajuns, who produced 39 hits last weekend at Georgia State, have now collected 53 hits over the past four games.

– Casidy Chaumont and Alissa Dalton both pushed their season RBI total past 20. They each have 21 RBI, the second-highest tally on the squad.

– Alissa Dalton stretched her hitting streak to nine games, her longest of the season.

– Kourtney Gremillion brought her season batting average back above .300 and raised it 28 points up to .327.

– Kylee Jo Trahan, who worked 7-1/3 scoreless innings at Georgia State, appeared in the circle for the sixth straight game. It was her first start since Feb. 25 vs. Memphis.

– The victory allowed the Ragin’ Cajuns to finish even (3-3) on the six-game stretch of road outings which began last Wednesday at Florida State.

– Louisiana extended its series win streak over Southeastern Louisiana to 32 games and moved its all-time lead in the series to 48-1.

– Wednesday’s contest marked the first meeting in Hammond between the two programs since March 1999.