Louisiana Softball drops series to Marshall, slides to seventh in SBC

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball team grabbed the lead first in the pitcher’s duel but was unable to hold off a pivotal fifth-inning surge by Marshall, falling 3-2 in the series finale on Sunday, April 26 at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.

Louisiana (27-24, 10-11 SBC) controlled the tempo through the first four innings, manufacturing runs and getting a steady outing in the circle from Sage Hoover. The Ragin’ Cajuns held Marshall scoreless into the fifth and carried a 2-0 advantage before the Thundering Herd capitalized on a key sequence to flip the game.

Marshall (36-14, 16-5 SBC) was limited to just two hits through the first four frames, but broke through in the fifth inning, taking advantage of a defensive miscue and timely extra-base hitting. Louisiana threatened late but was unable to push across the equalizer.

The Thundering Herd snapped the Ragin’ Cajuns’ five-game conference winning streak and salvaged one game in the weekend set.

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With the loss, Louisiana dropped into seventh place in the SBC standings and one game behind JMU, which holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, for the final first-round bye in the SBC Championship tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Ragin’ Cajuns struck first and ended a scoreless stalemate in the bottom of the third. Dayzja Williams reached on a hit-by-pitch and advanced into scoring position before Mia Liscano delivered a single. With two aboard, Haley Hart lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing home Williams for a 1-0 lead.

Louisiana added to its advantage in the fourth, Williams coming through with a two-out RBI single to right-center to extend the lead to 2-0.

Hoover cruised through the early innings, working around scattered baserunners and keeping Marshall off balance. The Thundering Herd’s first serious threat came in the fourth with a leadoff double, but Hoover induced three straight outs to escape unscathed.

Marshall’s decisive rally came in the fifth.

With two outs and a runner aboard, a dropped foul ball extended the inning. A walk and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases before Diamond Leslie delivered a two-out, three-run double to left-center, scoring all three runs —all unearned — to give Marshall a 3-2 lead.