LAFAYETTE, La. - The ULM softball team struggled on both
sides of the plate in the first game of the Sun Belt Conference Softball
Championship and fell 10-2 in five innings to No. 3 seed South Alabama
Wednesday morning at Lamson Park.
Four different Warhawks had a hit on the day as Brianna Love
and Roxy Cassel led with 1-for-2 performances. Love and Miyuki Navarrete scored
the two lone runs of the game while Cassel and Janel Salanoa each had one RBI.
Tiffany Mills (13-17) started in the circle for ULM (27-27) and
picked up the loss after allowing seven earned runs off six hits with one
strikeout in just 1.2 innings of action. Heather Fritz gave up two earned runs
and four walks in 0.2 innings and Jesscia Chastka threw the final 1.2 innings
with just two hits, one earned run and one strikeout.
South Alabama was the first to put two runners on base in
the second inning with a single and a fielder's choice and plated both runs
when Katy Neal nailed a three-RBI home run to right center field to take an
early 3-0 lead.
The Jaguars (36-15) continued to apply pressure by loading
the bases immediately with a walk and back-to-back singles and pushed another
run across the plate with a Haley Richards RBI single to center field. Another
two-RBI single by Haley Hopkins plated Jenny Stevens and Britany Campbell
before ULM walked a runner in with the bases loaded to end the spree trailing
7-0.
The Warhawks finally struck with their first hit in the
third inning by Love and Navarrete followed with a single to put two runners on
and one in scoring position. Cassel belted a single deep to right center to
score Love before a Salanoa RBI single scored Navarrete for the final run of
the inning for ULM.
With two outs in the bottom of the frame the Jaguars
continued to pile on the runs as Campbell reached home off a Britany Fowler
single and Hopkins collected two more RBIs with a double to right center to
build a 10-2 cushion.
Hopkins led South Alabama with a 2-for-3 performance at bat
and collected a game-high four RBIs. Neal totaled three RBIs for the day while
Stevens and Campbell scored two runs and six other Jaguars each had a run.
With the loss, ULM will play in the first elimination game
of the tournament tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. against No. 7 Western Kentucky after they fell to No. 2 Florida Atlantic 4-3 in the second game of the tournament.
