PRESS RELEASE
LAFAYETTE – 21st-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball advanced to the championship game of the 2018 Sun Belt Softball Tournament at Lamson Park with a 1-0 win over No. 23 Texas State.
Summer Ellyson spun a no-hitter and the combination of Kelli Martinez and Kara Gremillion led to the winning run for the second straight day.
In the sixth inning of a scoreless duel, Martinez beat out an infield single with one out and later wound up at third following an error on a stolen base attempt. Gremillion took a 3-1 offering from Texas State’s Randi Rupp and pushed a squeeze bunt up the first base line to bring home Martinez with the game-winning tally.
Ellyson faced the minimum in collecting her second no-hitter of the season and the Ragin’ Cajuns fourth in Sun Belt Tournament history.
UP NEXT
No. 21 Louisiana aims for its third straight Sun Belt Tournament championship and 15th overall in the 1 p.m. championship game on Saturday at Lamson Park in a rematch with Texas State. The Cajuns are 3-1 against the top-seeded Bobcats.
LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Ellyson struck out six and a two-out walk in the third inning was all that separate her from a perfect game. The sophomore hurler needed just 80 pitches to craft the no-hitter.
Martinez’s run was her third of the SBC Tournament. She’s now accounted for all of Louisiana’s scoring in the event.
Gremillion picked up her team-leading sixth sacrifice hit of the season on the sixth-inning squeeze.
NOTEWORTHY
– Louisiana improved to 58-8 all-time in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
– The Ragin’ Cajuns advanced to the SBC Tournament championship game for the fifth straight year and 17th time in the 19-year history of the event.
– Summer Ellyson joins Brooke Mitchell (2004) and Donna Bourgeois (2010) as Ragin’ Cajuns to toss complete game no-hitters in the Sun Belt Tournament. Louisiana’s other no-hitter was a combined effort by Alex Stewart and Macey Smith in the 2016 championship game.
– Summer Ellyson posted her fifth complete game shutout. She lowered her ERA to 1.36, the lowest figure since opening day.
– Since April 15, Summer Ellyson has worked 79 innings and surrendered just nine earned runs (0.80 ERA), 47 hits and limited foes to a .167 average.
– Kelli Martinez’s single in the sixth inning extended her season-best hitting streak to four games. She’s also extended her reached base streak to a season-high 10 games.
– The Ragin’ Cajuns moved to 19-8 in games decided by two runs or less, which includes a 10-6 mark in one-run games. It was the fifth one-run triumph in the past six outings.
– Louisiana stretched its current winning streak, which began April 28-29 at UTA, to seven games. It equals the season-long streak that occurred from March 11-24.
– For the third straight season, the Ragin’ Cajuns and Bobcats met in the Sun Belt Tournament winner’s bracket final. Louisiana has won each time.
– Louisiana batters struck out only once in the contest – the fewest recorded by Texas State’s Randi Rupp in a game seven innings or longer in 2018 (previous low was two at Baylor on March 14).
FOLLOW THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin’ Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB) and Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Softball.