Milestone moment makes Louisiana a winner in midweek contest

Mihyia Davis’ first collegiate home run ends scoreless stalemate with Southeastern in sixth inning

LAFAYETTE – Mihyia Davis’ first collegiate home run ended a scoreless duel in the sixth inning and ignited a seven-run frame as the No. 25-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball team went on to post a 7-0 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday, April 18 at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.

Davis’ two-run line drive over the wall in straightaway center field ended a standoff between the Ragin’ Cajuns (34-12) and Lady Lions (37-10) that had existed due to several key defensive plays from SLU, including three double plays, and the pitching of Louisiana’s Meghan Schorman who struck out nine over 5-2/3 innings.

The home run cracked the open door for the Cajuns and a costly fielding error with two outs kept SLU from closing it shut to prevent the floodgates from opening.

Following the miscue, Lauren Allred delivered a two-run single, Taylor Roman an RBI double and Victoria Valdez a two-run home run to extend Louisiana’s lead to 7-0.

Kandra Lamb retired SLU in order in the seventh inning to make the final outcome a mere formality and finish off the Ragin’ Cajuns seventh consecutive win at Lamson Park.

The Ragin’ Cajuns freshman trio of Davis, Allred and Valdez combined for six of the seven RBI, each tallying two apiece. Davis notched a multiple-RBI performance for the second straight game (three RBI in Texas State finale), Allred took over the team lead increasing her season RBI total to 32 and Valdez homered for the first time since Feb. 25.

Schorman and Lamb combined for a three-hit shutout of a Lions squad that came in hitting .318. It was the second straight game the pitching staff tossed a shutout and the 15th overall this season. The two Cajuns hurlers combined for 11 strikeouts (9 by Schorman, 2 by Lamb).

The Lady Lions had traffic each of their first three at bats, but Schorman was up for the challenge highlighted by working out of a two on base, no outs situation in the third inning. Escaping the jam built momentum as Schorman retired SLU in order the next two innings.

SLU used the pitching trio of Ellie DuBois, Cera Blanchard and MC Comeaux to keep Louisiana off balance through five complete. DuBois induced a pair of fly outs after a one-out double from Sophie Piskos in the second inning, Blanchard benefitted from a caught stealing and line drive double play over the third and fourth innings, and Comeaux induced a pop up double play off a bunt from Alexa Langeliers in the fifth inning.

It was Valdez playing the part of the biggest momentum changer of the night, though, in the sixth inning when she threw out two SLU runners attempting to steal third to preserve the scoreless tie.

The Ragin’ Cajuns capitalized the next half inning as Maddie Hayden led off with an infield single ahead of Davis delivering the ultimate game changer.

Louisiana claimed its 20th win of the season over Top 100 RPI competition and continued the climb to a 24th consecutive 40-win season now just six wins shy of reaching the mark.

Tuesday’s contest marked the first contest within the state’s borders between the two programs since the 2019 season. Inclement weather had canceled midweek opportunities to play back in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

With the win, Louisiana extended its series win streak over Southeastern to 35 games – a streak that began back in the 1991 season. The Ragin’ Cajuns increased their all-time series lead over the Lady Lions to 51-1 which now includes a 28-1 mark at Lamson Park.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin’ Cajuns travel to Troy, Alabama for a three-game Sun Belt series with the Troy Trojans (29-13-1, 10-4-1 SBC). The weekend set in Troy is scheduled to run from Friday-Sunday, April 21-23 with all games televised on ESPN+ at 6:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m., respectively.

The series in Troy wraps up the Ragin’ Cajuns four-week stretch of conference series against other contenders that will have implications on the title race. The Ragin’ Cajuns started the challenging stretch with sweeps of James Madison, South Alabama and Texas State the past three weekends which vaulted the squad into first place in the standings.

After the trip to Troy, the April-ending road swing for Louisiana concludes from Friday-Sunday, April 28-30 in Conway, South Carolina with a three-game SBC series at Coastal Carolina.

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