TROY, Ala. ? If there was any doubt that the ULM softball team belonged in the conference tournament it was quickly silenced by sophomore Kandace Causey Thursday afternoon. The Warhawks downed tournament-host Troy, 5-0, behind Causey's no-hitter at the Troy Softball Complex.
“Kandace was absolutely in the zone today,” ULM softball head coach Rosemary Holloway-Hill said. “I'm proud of the way we fought out there and against one of the better hitting teams in the conference we got the pitches that we needed. That was just an amazing performance in the circle from one of the conference's top pitchers.”
With battery-mate Megan Miller providing the power with a pair of two-run bombs, Causey silenced the partisan Trojan crowd and fired the first no-hitter in the nine-year history of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
Against the conference's freshman of the year and first team selection to the All-SBC Team in Ashlyn Williams, ULM jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the strength of Miller's first shot ? a laser to left centerfield. Williams (L, 28-14) fanned the first two batters before a single by senior Jamie Liles set up the big-fly by Miller.
With runners on second and third two innings later, Liles provided a sacrifice fly to extend the Warhawk advantage to 3-0. In the next at-bat Miller hit her second shot of the game to become the fifth player in program history with 20 career homers.
“Megan has been a great power hitter for us during her entire career,” Holloway-Hill said. “She started slow this season, but I think it is safe to say that she has heated up. Ashlyn Williams is a great pitcher, but Megan was able to turn around on a couple of pitches and power us to a win.”
The 5-0 lead was more than enough for Causey. The sophomore fanned four of the last six batters and induced a pair of groundouts to register her second no-hitter of the season.
Causey (W, 12-12) faced one batter over the minimum, fanning seven Trojans on an unbelievable 73 pitches. In a game that lasted only 1:16, Rocky Paige was the only Trojan to reach base after being sent to first on an inside pitch that clipped her jersey.
The Warhawks will await the winner of the North Texas/Troy elimination game for a 3 p.m. game Friday at the Troy Softball Complex. The Mean Green fell in the first meeting of the tournament between the two, 4-3, in the opening round.
Live stats for the game will be available online at www.ULMathletics.com. Video streaming for all remaining games can be found on the conference's web site at www.sunbeltsports.org for $9.95.
