TROY, Ala. ? The difference a year makes.
Last year,
while eight Sun Belt schools were battling it out in Murfreesboro,
Tenn. trying to win a conference championship,
ULM head coach
Rosemary Holloway-Hill got an early jump on the recruiting circuit with every
intention to not be in the same position in 2008.
Nobody would
envision where her Warhawks would be one year later.
The
seventh-seeded Warhawks continued their strong team play in the conference
tournament, downing No. 6 North Texas, 5-1, to advance to its first
championship game since the 1997 Southland Conference season. ULM sits poised to claim its first Sun Belt
Tournament Championship in any sport since joining the league as full members
with one more win.
“It was our
goal coming into the season and this tournament to be playing for the
championship,” ULM
head coach Rosemary Holloway-Hill said. “Our team is one game away of realizing
our dream of playing in the NCAA Tournament and we want to make it a reality.
This tournament has been a great team effort all around for an outstanding
group of young women.”
NT (27-33)
jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after scoring an unearned run against sophomore
Kandace Causey in the opening frame. With one out Mariza Martinez reached and
advanced to second on an error before coming home on an RBI double by Mallory
Cantler.
Causey (W,
13-12) would settle in and blank the Mean Green over the next five innings to
give her offense ample time to take the lead.
After the
first eight batters were retired to start the game for the Warhawks, nine-hole
hitter Brittany Brasell reached on a single. One batter later, freshman Brianna
Love slammed a triple off the softball championship banner in left centerfield
to knot the score at 1-1.
The ULM offense opened the
flood gates in the next inning, scoring the final four runs of the game and
move ahead 5-1. Senior Jamie Liles led off the inning with a single. A walk and
base hit by freshman Molly McNeill allowed freshman pinch runner Elyse Stark gave
the Warhawks the 2-1 lead.
Senior
Calli Baker doubled to left centerfield to drive in the next Warhawk run before
both she and McNeill came home on an RBI single by Brasell to give Causey a 5-1
lead to work with.
The Mean
Green would make one final push against Causey, putting runners on first and
second with only one out. The Denham Springs, La.-native retired the next five,
including three via the strikeout.
Senior
Lindsay Rittenhouse (ND) induced three straight groundballs in the final frame
to send the Warhawks into the championship game.
Causey
fanned seven and allowed three hits and three walks to earn her second
consecutive victory of the tournament. Kayla Lawson (L, 9-10) allowed all five
runs on five hits with one walk.
Liles
finished with a game-high 3-for-4 performance. Playing in her first ever
conference tournament, the fifth-year senior has hit .667 over the three games.
The
Warhawks will face the tournament's top seed No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette in the
Sun Belt Conference Championship tomorrow after at 3 p.m. in Troy, Ala.
The tournament's final game will be televised live on CSS/CST. Check with your
local service provider for availability in your area.
