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Saturday, May 10, 2003
Big innings lift Ragin' Cauns
to victory over Golden Panthers in title game of SBC Championship
 ne
day after pitching a one-hit shut out to Florida International,
Louisiana-Lafayette hurler Brooke Mitchell held FIU to three
hits en route to leading the Ragin' Cajuns to a 6-2 victory and
their fourth-consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship on
Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky. ULL (43-8) has never lost in 13
conference tournament contests. FIU ends the season at 37-25
unless the Golden Panthers receive an at-large bid into NCAA
Regionals.
"To be on the road and be successful says a lot about
this young team," ULL head coach Stefni Lotief said. "Every
time we stepped on the field, this tournament was our ultimate
goal. We had a great weekend. It's a big accomplishment for this
team to win the championship."
Mitchell was selected the tournament's Most Outstanding Player
after earning a pair of wins and a save in the Ragin' Cajuns'
three games. She struck out 26 while allowing only six baserunners
(four hits, two walks) in 14.2 innings, and both runs scored
against her were unearned. Opposing hitters managed an .078 batting
average against the right-hander.
Mitchell gave up two runs (both unearned) on three hits in
the title game to move to 22-6 on the year, striking out eight.
SBC Freshman of the Year Danyele Gomez collected went 3-for-4
with three RBI to collect a third of the Cajuns' nine hits in
the championship contest. Tiffany Grayson was 2-for-3 with an
RBI.
ULL put together the first threat of the game when Becky McMurtry
and Gomez collected back-to-back one-out singles in the top of
the first inning to give the Cajuns runners on the corners. The
two executed a double steal one out later to make the score 1-0.
Brittany Bryant drew a walk before Lauren Castle singled up the
middle to double ULL's advantage. The Ragin' Cajuns took a 3-0
lead after Grayson singled to center to plate Bryant before Amanda
Nealer struck out Summar Lapeyrouse looking to end the inning.
"I think we made a big statement early, we showed we
were ready to play," said Lotief. "But we weren't finished
because we came back with another big inning late."
"We had a shaky first inning, which really hurt,"
said FIU head coach Kim Gwydir. "Nothing was hit really
hard, but it rattled us a little."
The Golden Panthers got on the board in the second without
the aid of a hit. Marleah Stapf was hit by Mitchell to open the
frame, and she advanced to third on an infield out and a wild
pitch. With two outs, Amber Gill reached on an error, allowing
Staph to cross the plate and make the score 3-1.
FIU cut its deficit in half in the sixth, beginning the rally
when Nicole Dubovik doubled down the left-field line with one
out. Jennifer Owens followed with an infield single to move Dubovik
up to third - she scored on the play after an error by first
baseman Lapeyrouse.
The Ragin' Cajuns put the game away in the top of the seventh,
as Crystal George reached on a leadoff double and McMurtry drew
a four-pitch walk before Gomez hit her 18th home run of the season
to right field.
Nealer, who allowed three hits from the second through sixth
innings before being pulled in the final frame, took the loss
to fall to 21-8. The left-hander gave up six runs and eight hits
in 6.1 innings. She struck out 11 and walked three.
"Amanda pitched a good game, but she ran out of gas in
the seventh inning," Gwydir said. "We clawed back scratching
for a couple of runs - I thought we really had a chance. But,
Brooke Mitchell is an awfully tough pitcher to beat."
Owens was 2-for-3 to lead the Golden Panther offense. |