The Cardiac Cajuns found a way to get it done.
Despite losing to LSU 4-1 on Saturday in the winners' bracket final and despite trailing the Tigers in each of the two games they played on Sunday, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns eked out two straight victories against LSU to advance to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Softball Tournament. The Cajuns won the first game 7-4 and the second game 9-8. This marks the first time Louisiana has reached the Super Regionals since 2016. It's the first time the program has advanced past the regional round during Gerry Glasco's six-year tenure as head coach.
"It's just a normal softball game, and we came out on top," Glasco said with a chuckle after the game. "We got out to a real good lead in the first inning, and any time you score that early, you know they're going to make a run, and they did what great teams do. They made their run, and they got the lead 7-6, and I just tried to let the pace . . . just keep it calm in the dugout. I felt really good about our kids coming back."
Jourdyn Campbell was critical to the Cajuns' success. In the first game, Campbell, as a pinch hitter, launched a three-run home run to centerfield in the fourth inning to give the Cajuns a 6-4 lead. Sophie Piskos added a home run of her own in the fifth to give the Cajuns a 7-4 lead that they would never relinquish. In the second game, Campbell was at bat when LSU pitcher Sydney Berzon tried to intentionally walk her. Berzon's first pitch was wild and got past the catcher, allowing Lauren Allred to score from third base to tie the game. Later in the at bat, Berzon missed her mark and hung a pitch over the middle of the plate. Campbell got a hold of the ball and slapped a single to right-centerfield to score Karly Heath to put the Cajuns up for good.
"Jourdyn Campbell's been a warrior for our ball club," Glasco said. "There's been nothing easy about this season for Jourdyn, for me, for our team. When you're a ball club, you're a family, and it was a tough year--things that in private and in a team atmosphere. Jourdyn's been, all the way through, she's worked her butt off. She's been a warrior. She's gotten mentally tougher because of where we've been."
In the first game, Louisiana bounced back from an early 4-1 deficit. LSU posted all of those runs in the top of the second inning. Two of them came via Karli Perry's home run to centerfield, while another came via an error by Cajuns shortstop Alexa Langeliers. The Cajuns bounced back, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the frame, another three in the third, and an insurance run in the fourth inning. Sam Landry allowed only one hit in five innings of relief work to pick up the win in Game 1.
Mistakes by both the Cajuns and the Tigers defined the second game. Louisiana scored six runs in the top of the first inning on two hits, three walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a wild pitch. Campbell hit her second home run of the day, a grand slam, to score the final four runs of the inning. LSU responded by scoring eight straight runs. The first came on a Georgia Clark solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. The next six came in the third inning on four hits and three Cajuns errors. The Tigers tacked on their final run in the bottom of the fourth when a Taylor Pleasants single drove in Ciara Briggs.
The Cajuns regained the momentum in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a mental error by one of LSU's stars. Georgia Clark was ejected by plate umpire Mike Thibodeaux after she pointed at him and said something to him. Clark was upset with a foul ball call that Thibodeaux made because she felt the ball never touched her bat. In the next half inning, the Allred and Health recorded back-to-back singles to put the winning run on base. Langeliers laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position. Campbell's wild and wooly at bat capped off the Cajuns' comeback.
"The ball was coming and it was over the plate," Campbell said. "(The umpire is) still calling them strikes. I noticed there was an intentional walk, and I didn't know if there was something where they were trying to confuse me or anything, but at that point, I had two strikes on me. I was trying to protect the plate and hit something to the right side to score the runner at third. That's what I did."
LSU head coach Beth Torina said her decision to attempt to intentionally walk Campbell is already causing her pain.
"In hindsight, Sydney Berzon's probably not ever done that in a game before," Torina said. "It's not something we do a lot. We've done it in practice at times. Obviously, that's a takeaway I'm going to do at some point. We're going to be better at that moving forward. I'm going to think about it every day for the next six months--think about that decision.
"I'm really at a loss for words," Torina added with a sigh. "Congratulations to ULL. They had a great season. They have a great team. I'm sure they will do really well moving on and we'll be pulling for them."
The Ragin' Cajuns will now travel to Seattle to play the Washington Huskies in the Super Regional. Washington mounted a comeback of its own, scoring seven runs in the top of the seventh inning in their winner-take-all regional final to beat McNeese 7-6 to advance.