Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Louisiana-Lafayette
ULL Sweeps Lady Raiders in Conference Opener
4/5/2003 11:03:00 PM | Softball
LAFAYETTE, La. - Middle Tennessee (17-12, 0-2 SBC) fell 12-4, 5-0 to Louisiana-Lafayette (22-5, 2-0) in opening Sun Belt Conference action Saturday at Lady Cajun Park.
Middle Tennessee struck early in the opening game in the first inning when sophomore Dani DeCamino hit a sacrifice fly to left field to send in Kristina Hieb, who got on base when she was hit by a pitch. The promising start soon turned ugly when the Lady Raiders gave up seven runs in the bottom of the first inning as starting pitcher Valerie Swanson was pulled and replaced by fellow freshman Tiffany Childress. However, Swanson would return later in the inning and finish the game.
The Lady Cajuns scored one run in the fifth and three runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early. Middle Tennessee proved they might have been down, but not out, as the Lady Raiders fought back for three runs late in the game.
Cortney Mitchell hit her sixth homerun of the season when she jacked a long ball 215 feet over the left field wall and picked up two RBI, as her homer sent in Kip Phillips. It was the first homerun Louisiana-Lafayette has given up since March 13 when the Lady Cajuns lost to No. 2 Arizona 7-3.
The Lady Raiders added one more run in the top of the sixth inning as Phillips hit an RBI single that plated Muriel Ledbetter. Swanson picked up the loss allowing eight runs on 11 hits and striking out one in 4.2 innings of work.
Dani DeCamino was taken out of the game after she was injured when she attempted to tag a runner out.
In the second game, the Lady Raiders were shutout for just the third time this season with the 5-0 loss to the Lady Cajuns. Middle Tennessee could only muster two hits, as Kip Phillips and Leah Grothause each hit a single. Senior Stayc Preator picked up the loss and falls to 10-5, recording eight strikeouts and allowing six hits.
Middle Tennessee will complete its four-game series with Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday. Doubleheader action has been changed to a 11 a.m. first pitch at Lady Cajun Park due to impending bad weather.
