LAFAYETTE – Laney Credeur was a perfect 6-for-6 with three home runs and six RBI to lead the charge as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball team unleashed an offensive onslaught on South Alabama in claiming a 7-5, 8-0 (5 inn.) doubleheader sweep on Saturday, April 8 at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
Credeur had a hand in giving the Ragin’ Cajuns (29-10, 10-1 SBC) a first inning lead over the Jaguars (25-12, 8-3 SBC) in both games, launching her first home run of the day to start the scoring in Game 1 and delivering a two-run single in her first at bat of Game 2.
Louisiana wound up generating seven runs in the first inning over the span of the twinbill and extended its string of consecutive games scoring in its first at bat to six straight games (since JMU series).
The early advantage was backed up by outstanding starting pitching efforts from Meghan Schorman and Sam Landry. Schorman took a perfect game into the fifth inning of Game 1, retiring the first 14 batters faced, then Landry scattered four hits and struck out six over five scoreless innings pitched in Game 2.
The Ragin’ Cajuns offense was locked in from the start and finished the day with 15 runs off of 21 base hits on a .429 average. Entering the day, USA’s pitching staff had surrendered just 16 runs in the first 61 innings of Sun Belt play. The Jaguars hadn’t yielded double-digit runs in a weekend since late-February.
With the doubleheader sweep Louisiana extended its streak of consecutive Sun Belt Conference series won to 77 straight – the nation's longest active streak of consecutive conference series victories which dates back to March 2013.
With Saturday’s sweep and Marshall’s loss in the series finale at ULM the Ragin’ Cajuns moved into sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings.
The Ragin’ Cajuns set the tone for the day immediately as Schorman struck out the side to start to the top half of the first in Game 1. Credeur wouldn’t allow Olivia Lackie to escape the bottom half unscathed as her two-out, two-run home run put the Cajuns up 2-0.
While Schorman was in cruise control, the Cajuns kept Lackie in trouble posting three more runs over the next two innings which included solo home runs from Stormy Kotzelnick and Credeur to widen the lead to 5-0.
A solo home run from Gabby Stagner put USA on the board in the fifth inning and wound up being the lone blemish in Schorman’s dominant performance.
Karly Heath, who finished the doubleheader 4-for-5 with four runs scored, got the run back with a solo homer of her own in the bottom half of the inning and an inning later Mihyia Davis’ two-out RBI single pushed the lead to its largest point at 7-1. Both runs would be crucial as the Jaguars chipped away at Kandra Lamb and Chloe Riassetto in relief for four runs in the seventh inning.
Louisiana flipped the momentum on South Alabama in the first inning of the nightcap, starting when Landry recorded back-to-back strikeouts to escape a bases loaded jam.
In the bottom half of the first the first five Ragin’ Cajuns all reached base and a 4-0 lead, built by two-run singles from Credeur and Alexa Langeliers, was established before the Jaguars could record an out.
The next inning it was Credeur launching her third home run of the doubleheader to increase the lead to 6-0. That’s where things stood until Louisiana loaded the bases in the fifth inning with three consecutive singles to set up sacrifice flies from Langliers and Kotzelnick that brought the game to an early end.
After the first inning challenge, Landry faced only three over the minimum over the final four frames to land her first complete game shutout in SBC play. USA wouldn’t get a runner past second base again until the fifth inning and that’s when Landry posted a strikeout with a runner on third base.
Louisiana extended its series-best winning streak over South Alabama to 22 games, having won every game against the Jaguars since 2016. The Ragin’ Cajuns claimed the SBC series win between the two programs for the 13th time in 16 tries.
The all-time series lead over South Alabama advanced to 44-11 which now includes a 23-2 mark at Lamson Park.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana and South Alabama complete the three-game Sun Belt series on Sunday, April 9 with a single game scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.
The Ragin’ Cajuns look to protect their lead in the Sun Belt standings and seek to complete the series sweep of the Jaguars for the seventh straight meeting.
The series finale is being televised live on ESPN+. Fans in the Acadiana region can keep up with the action with Cody Junot and Bobby Neveaux on the call on 103.3 FM and 1420 AM and worldwide on the Varsity Network. Live stats will be provided at CajunStats.com.
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.
- www.RaginCajuns.com [ragincajuns.com] -
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