HARRISONBURG, Va. – The 25th-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball team used the power play to repel James Madison and later KO’d James Madison in extra innings 8-4 (8 inns) on Friday, March 31 at the Veterans Memorial Deliver Park in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
The Dukes went out of the fifth inning with momentum after converting two Ragin’ Cajuns miscues into runs and a 4-2 lead. Stormy Kotzelnick had the quick answer for Louisiana (24-10, 6-1 SBC) as she leveled the game once more with a double home run to right center.
JMU (20-8, 5-2 SBC) made the defensive play on home plate in the seventh inning to keep the game at a standstill, albeit temporarily.
Softball’s downtime would be short-lived as the Ragin’ Cajuns received a solo home run from Laney Credeur Lead the eighth inning to break the tie Alexa Langeliers lifted a three-run home run to left center to extend the lead to 8-4.
The late game power delivery of the Ragin’ Cajuns bats made it a winner Megan Schorman (10-4, 2.10 ERA), who settled in after two solo homers and four hits allowed in the first inning. Schorman limited the Dukes to just two hits in their last six innings at the circle, finishing with a season-high 12 strikeouts.
Kotzelinck, Credeur and Langeliers each finished 2-for-4 on the plate, which combined for seven RBI, led by the Langeliers’ game-high three RBI.
Louisiana defeated JMU 11-6 and made the most of its opportunities, stranding baserunners just five while the Dukes kept 10 runners on base.
The first-ever Sun Belt Conference meeting between the two nationally recognized programs began with a series of attacks in the first inning as the Cajuns scored two hits from Credeur and Lauren Allred to push over two runs and the Dukes responded with two solo homers in the bottom half to forge a 2-all tie.
It quickly became a stalemate between Schorman and JMU starting pitcher Kylah Berry, and the 2-2 tie lasted through the fourth inning. Both escaping goal threat, Schorman recorded back-to-back strikeouts with two runners on base at the end of the fourth and Berry prompted a lineup for the finals at the top of the fifth with a runner in goal position.
JMU broke through at the end of the fifth with a defensive miscue, but it was Kotzelnick and the Cajuns’ offense who immediately caught the defense with quick response in the sixth inning.
Friday’s outing not only kicked off the first SBC series between the Ragin’ Cajuns and Dukes, it also marked both teams’ first on-campus duel.
Louisiana picked up its third come-from-behind road win this season in the Sun Belt game (twice at USM) and won for the second time by a five-inning deficit.
The Ragin’ Cajuns gave the Dukes their first home loss of the 2023 season and claimed their 15th win away from Lamson Park (seven real road wins, eight wins neutral).
NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
No. 25 Louisiana and James Madison continue the weekend series Sun Belt in Harrisonburg, Virginia on Saturday, April 1 with a contest at 11:00 am CDT at Veterans Memorial Park.
It’s the first of two opportunities the Ragin’ Cajuns have to expand their nation-leading tally of consecutive conference series—now a decade old and dating back to March 2013—to 76 straight.
No telecast of Saturday’s session is available. Fans in the Acadiana region can keep up with the action with Cody Junot and Bobby Neveaux on the call on 103.3 FM and 1420 AM and globally on the Varsity Network. Live statistics are made available on CajunStats.com.
FOLLOW THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin’ Cajuns on Facebook (/RaginCajunsSB [facebook.com]), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSB [twitter.com]) and Instagram (@Louisiana.SB [instagram.com]) to keep up to date with all that’s happening with Louisiana softball.
Fans are encouraged to keep in touch with the Ragin’ Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here [apps.apple.com] for iOS/Apple platforms and here [play.google.com] for Android platforms.
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