UL beats Houston, will face LSU

UL responded immediately and consistently in the teams’ elimination game to extend its season at least another day with a 7-2 victory. 

“I’m really proud of the girls and the fight that they put up today and the effort that they gave,” coach Gerry Glasco said. “For me, it was just good to see them finally relax. The air let out of them, the pressure let off of ‘em, and I think you finally saw the ball team that I’ve been seeing in practice the last two or three weeks.”

The Cajuns survived back-to-back elimination games Saturday against Fordham, 15-3, at 2:30 p.m. and the Cougars at 5 p.m. to set up a Sunday date with the host Tigers.Houston’s season meanwhile ends abruptly with losses to LSU, 1-0, at noon, and then UL at 5.

“We’re happy to be here,” Houston coach Kristin Vesely said. “It was a long day for us. I thought we handed the weather delay well, and we played a close game with LSU. And we want to be standing next year on Sunday.”

Arielle James singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning Saturday, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a Sarah Queen single to left field.

One run, a fourth-inning homer by James, was all the Cougars needed Friday.

But UL quickly made sure Saturday was a different story.

“That was pretty much all we thought about,” junior catcher Lexie Comeaux said. “When we went to bed last night, everyone was kind of just pissed off, kind of at each other, with the way things were rolling, because that’s not how we wanted to start the regional.

“But this morning we got together as a team after our coaches left, and Alissa Dalton said, ‘We’ve got nothing to lose. Let’s just go out there and play.’ 

And I had an idea we should all write something down on a piece of paper what we wanted to do today, what we wanted to bring to the game and put it in our back pocket … (Mine) said,’ Be a leader in the lineup. Be a leader behind the plate. And just get the job done no matter what.’”

Comeaux answered that self-challenge quickly with a solo shot of her own — her first of two in the game — to re-tie the score one out into the second inning.

Kourtney Gremillion and Carrie Boswell each singled to the outfield.

Fellow freshman Casidy Chaumont reached on a fielder’s choice, and then Boswell and Chaumont both scored on a hard-hit double by Brittany Rodriguez through the left side.

“They did a good job of making adjustments offensively, and I think that defensively we did the best we could and made some big plays to eliminate some extra runs,” Vesely said. “But today we just didn’t have it in the circle in that second game.”

Kara Gremillion was hit by a pitch to start the third inning and advanced to second on a Comeaux single, and both runners scored on a Boswell single through the left side to double the team’s lead to 5-1.

The Ragin’ Cajuns added a sixth run in the top of the fourth before a second weather delay in as many days appeared poised to swing the momentum.

“I’ve been going home from practice telling my wife, ‘None of our fans would believe how good these kids hit in batting practice when they watch them in a game,’” Glasco said. “Today I think we finally saw they let it out and they just played.”

Singles by Rodriguez, Kelli Martinez and Kara Gremillion brought the run home and put another two runners in scoring position with two outs.

But, after a 68-minute pause, the Cougars got the final out and started finding more success offensively than they had since the first.

UL needed a diving catch by Aeriyl Mass in center and charging play by Dalton at short helped end Houston’s fourth inning threat after playing the first two runners on base.

“I was just out there ready to catch every ball that was hit to me,” said Mass, the freshman from Barbe who also robbed Queen of a two-run homer in the third. 

“I didn’t freak out or anything. Just if the ball came to me, I said, ‘I’m gonna catch it. It’s easy.’ And that’s what I did.”

Said Vesely: “They made some huge, tremendous big plays. Their outfield, even in the first game we played them, was a difference-maker in that game and limited additional runs in the first game we played.”

James was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fifth inning and eventually scored again on another Queen single to left.

That was all the Cajuns would allow, though.

UL retired the next seven batters to end the Cougars’ season and added another Comeaux homer in the seventh to help punctuate the 7-2 win.

“I told Lexie the last inning we had a four-run lead, so I wasn’t relaxing knowing a bases-loaded grand slam ties the game,” Glasco said.  “So I told her, ‘Get one more run for me right here. Be aggressive.’ I really wasn’t thinking home run. I was thinking base hit or get on base. And when she drived that ball the way she did down the left-field line, that was really fun.”

Sophomore Summer Ellyson (22-9) pitched all seven innings to earn the victory in the circle.

The Teurlings Catholic product struck out nine of the 29 batters she faced and allowed the two earned runs on four hits and two walks.

“I had a little bit more wiggle room,” Ellyson said. “They did score two runs, so I didn’t have my best day, but my team just came out swinging today, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is what we’ve been waiting for all year. This is our time to shine.’ And it ended up just being exactly what we needed.”

The Cajuns will face LSU at 1 p.m. Sunday when they will have the opportunity to force a second, winner-take-all game between the local rivals at 3:30 p.m.

“I think we’ve just got to get on the field and compete,” Glasco said. “They’re a really good ball club. They’re the No. 11 seed, a really high national seed team. They’ve been through the SEC grind, and they’ve got a great coach, a great coaching staff and a lot of talent. We’ve just got to get out there and go to war. “They’re gonna go to war, we’re gonna go to war, and we’ll see what the games turn out to be like.”