Blue Raider Softball Swept by #13 Louisiana-Lafayette

LAFAYETTE, La. - Middle Tennessee softball (8-41, 1-19 SBC) suffered a sweep by No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette (47-8, 19-1, SBC) falling 9-0, 8-0 Sunday at Ragin Cajun Park.

Middle Tennessee, in the midst of even more injuries as the season comes to a close, fell to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette 9-0 in the first game. The Ragin Cajuns opened the game with four runs in the bottom of the first inning to secure an early lead on the Blue Raiders. In the second inning, ULL added two more runs thanks to a homerun by Ashley Evans.

Blue Raider Jennifer Dorais started the game on the mound and went two innings before she was replaced by freshman Kristene Reed. Yes Reed. Making her first appearance all season in the pitching circle, Reed's first inning was successful as she recorded the first three up three down inning for the Blue Raiders defensively. Her second inning of work yielded a two run homer for the Ragin Cajuns, but all in all, for a player who saw her first action of the season against a top-ranked team, it wasn't as rocky as it could have been.

Dorais took the loss in the game and fell to 2-13 on the season. Middle Tennessee did show some offensive output in game one. The Blue Raiders had six hits, the same amount the Ragin Cajuns put together. Sophomore Trish White led Middle Tennessee at the plate going 2-for-3 in the game.

Reed came back in game two and picked up the first start of her career on the mound. The Ragin Cajuns jumped on her early as Danyele Gomez hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Evans added the third run of the inning off an RBI single to center field.

In the second inning, Lafayette added three more runs. Gomez hit a two RBI double for the first two runs and Brittany Bryant plated the third run off a sacrifice fly to left field. The Ragin Cajuns made the score 7-0 in the third inning when the team added yet another run thanks to an RBI triple by Deserea Griffith.

A Middle Tennessee error in the bottom of the fifth allowed the Ragin Cajuns to score the eighth run of the game and end the game early. Reed took the loss and falls to 0-1 on the season. Grybash led the Blue Raiders in the second game going 2-for-3 at the plate.

Middle Tennessee will complete the season on May 12 when the Blue Raiders will participate in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Blue Raiders will enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed Florida International at 1:30 p.m.

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