'Dogs Ousted From NCAA Regionals By Host Louisiana-Lafayette, 10-3
Windy Conditions Aid Three Homers From Ragin' Cajun Bats LAFAYETTE, La. -- The 19th-ranked and third-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette softball team (50-12) jumped out to 7-0 lead after three innings then held its own the rest of the way out as the host Lady Cajuns ousted fifth-seeded Mississippi State (36-31) from NCAA Regional 3 with a 10-3 victory Friday morning at Lady Cajun Park. The first four hitters in Mississippi State's batting order accounted for eight of the Bulldogs' nine total hits, with Kellie Wilkerson leading the way with a 2-for-3 (RBI, BB) performance. Jennifer Nelson (2-for-4, RBI), Iyhia McMichael (2-for-4, RBI) and Krystal Tillman (2-for-4) also recorded multi-hit performances. Alana Addison homered once for Louisiana-Lafayette on a 2-for-3 (2 R, 3 RBI) hitting day at the plate. MSU starter Melissa Massey (8-14) allowed four runs (three earned) on two hits and one walk before getting chased with no outs in the first. Wilkerson struck out five and allowed just two hits over the final two and two-thirds innings to get the no decision. Ragin' Cajun starter Brooke Mitchell (20-5) allowed three runs on nine Mississippi State hits, but struck out six and held State's five-through-nine hitters to a 1-for-12 hitting day to steal the victory. Wilkerson's two-hit effort in the ballgame pushed her career total to 318 and left the senior one hit shy of matching former all-American Keri McCallum's MSU career record (319). The three home runs by Louisiana-Lafayette in the contest pushed the 2002 total for the Lady Cajuns to 76, with Addison breaking her own single season school home run record with her solo shot in the fourth. The Lady Cajuns advance to game 8 of NCAA Regional 3 against top-seeded LSU. Mississippi State ends its 2002 campaign with a 36-31 record. The Ragin' Cajuns got something going immediately, taking advantage of early-game jitters by the Bulldogs to put both of its first two batters aboard via a defensive error and a single through the left side, then loaded the bases on a five-pitch free pass issued by Massey. Martin got a little help from the wind with her next at-bat as her hard hit carried over the fence in left centerfield for a grand slam and a 4-0 lead for Louisiana-Lafayette. It was the third grand slam of the season for the Lady Cajuns and the first one surrendered by the Bulldogs since an extra-inning loss to Utah in February of 2000. State got its first threat in the bottom of the second using a leadoff bunt single from McMichael and a comedy of errors by Louisiana-Lafayette to put a runner at third with its first at-bat. Alas, the Bulldogs could do no damage, popping up with its next two at-bats, including a failed suicide squeeze attempt by Lindsay Nelson, before Mitchell got out of the inning on Blaire Brown's grounder to second. Lafayette carried the momentum into the third, rallying for three runs with two outs, including George's two-run blast to the bleachers in leftfield, to push their advantage out to 7-0. The Bulldogs used a one-out single from Tillman and an RBI single from Jennifer Nelson to plate its first run of the ballgame, then got another run on Wilkerson's RBI single down the rightfield line that plate Nelson from second base. The Bulldogs continued their scoring moments later, scoring Wilkerson from second on McMichael's single to straightaway center. Lafayette took back the momentum in the next frame on Addison's leadoff shot, then extended their lead back to seven, 10-3, in the fifth on a two-run, wind-aided single by Addison. State got something going again in the bottom of the fifth, putting their first two batters aboard courtesy of base hits, but Mitchell got her second wind, striking out the next three Maroon and White batters in order.
Louisiana-Lafayette 10, Mississippi State 3Louisiana-Lafayette 403 120 0 - 10 13 3Mississippi State 003 000 0 - 3 9 2Mitchell and Webre; Massey, J. Nelson (1), Whitehead (4),Wilkerson (5) and Brown, Mosley (4). W - Mitchell (19-5).L - Massey (8-14). Save - None. HR - ULL, Martin, George,Addison. 2B - ULL, Robertson, Webre; Miss. State, Tillman.