Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Louisiana-Lafayette
ULL Completes Sweep of Lady Raiders
4/6/2003 5:24:00 PM | Softball
LAFAYETTE, La. - Junior Cortney Mitchell hit her 18th double of the season in Middle Tennessee's (17-14, 0-4 SBC) 10-0, 6-3 losses to No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette (24-5, 4-0) Sunday at Lady Cajun Park. The Lady Raiders open Sun Belt Conference Play 0-4.
Middle Tennessee was shutout for the second straight game in a 10-0 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in game one on Sunday. The game was called after five innings as the Lady Cajuns scored in three out of the four innings they were at the plate. Louisiana-Lafayette scored one run in the first, six in the third and three in the third.
Starting pitcher Stayc Preator took the loss going 2.2 innings allowing seven runs on seven hits, striking out four and falls to 10-6. Freshman Valerie Swanson came into the game for 1.1 innings allowing three runs on one hit.
Lady Cajun hurler Brooke Mitchell threw her second straight shutout going four innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. Sophomore Leah Grothause got the lone hit for the Lady Raiders with a blooper into center field.
Louisiana-Lafayette picked up where it left off in the second game, as the Lady Cajuns spotted two runs in the first inning. ULL picked up two more runs in the bottom of the third on two Lady Raider errors.
After threatening with the bases loaded earlier in the game, Middle Tennessee finally struck when the opportunity came again in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded and no outs, Mitchell hit a sacrifice fly to right field that plated pinch hitter Brandy Davis. The Lady Raiders added another run when Afton Thoms' wild pitch sent home Kip Phillips. Megan Cherinka kept the inning alive with an RBI double, her fourth of the season, which sent in Muriel Ledbetter. The three runs in the fifth were the first runs the Lady Raider had scored, in 16 innings, in the weekend series since the second game on Saturday.
Middle Tennessee returns to action on Wednesday April 9 when the Lady Raiders travel to Nashville to take on Tennessee State. First pitch action begins at 4 p.m.
