BATON ROUGE – The No. 22-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball team mounted a furious seventh-inning rally to knock off No. 10 national seed LSU in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional championship game Sunday, May 21 at Tiger Park.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (50-14) are advancing to the program’s eighth Super Regional appearance and first since 2016.
Trailing 8-7 heading in to the seventh, Lauren Allred and Karly Heath led off the inning with back-to-back singles and moved in to scoring position on an Alexa Langeliers sacrifice bunt. Allred scored the tying run on a passed ball before Jourdyn Campbell gave the Ragin’ Cajuns the lead with a single to right center.
Chloe Riassetto earned the victory as the southpaw was strong in relief, tossing 3.0 innings and allowing just three hits.
Louisiana erupted for six runs on a pair of hits and three walks in the top of the first. Mihyia Davis led off the game with a single to left and advanced to third on a throwing error before scoring on a wild pitch.
Following back-to-back walks from Sophie Piskos and Allred, Heath drove in Stormy Kotzelnick on a grounder to first. Langeliers drew a walk to reload the bases before Campbell belted a grand slam, her second home run of the day, off the foul pole in left.
LSU (42-16) evened the game using a solo home run in the second by Georgia Clark and scored six unearned runs in the third. The Tigers added an insurance run in the fourth as Taylor Pleasants singled home Ciara Briggs.
In the fifth, Heath cut the lead to 8-7 and she belted her 16th home run of the season to center.
For the game, Campbell and Heath led the team with two hits apiece as Campbell drove in five RBI and Heath plated two.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin’ Cajuns will make their eighth Super Regional appearance next week participating in the NCAA Seattle Regional against No. 7 national seed Washington. Dates and times for the series will be announced at a later time.
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB [facebook.com]), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB [twitter.com]) and Instagram (@Louisiana.SB [instagram.com]) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Softball.
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here [apps.apple.com] for iOS/Apple platforms and here [play.google.com] for Android platforms.
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers