BATON ROUGE — The LSU comeback came up short in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional championship game as the No. 9 National Seeded Tigers fell to Louisiana-Lafayette, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the loss, LSU concludes the 2008 campaign at 44-18 while falling in the NCAA Regionals for just the first time since the format went to the Regionals and Super Regionals in 2005. The Ragin’ Cajuns improved to 49-12 on the season and advance to face No. 8 National Seed Houston in Houston next weekend.
“First of all, I would like to congratulate the Cajuns,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “They played great. They stepped up when they needed to and certainly had a lot of fans with them.
“You’re going to make mistakes, you’re not going to make good pitches and you’re not going to always win,” said Girouard. “You want your kids to compete and that is exactly what we did. Our kids played hard. We just didn’t win.”
Seniors Tayl’r Hollis and Erika Sluss sent their careers out on high notes as Hollis was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored while Sluss was 2-for-2 with an RBI and was hit by a pitch. Senior Killian Roessner also knocked in a run on a double, her team best 17th of the season, finishing one ahead of sophomore Rachel Mitchell, who recorded her 16th double of the year in the contest.
Junior Dani Hofer took the loss for the Tigers to fall to 19-7 on the year. Despite battling tendonitis in her throwing wrist that had limited her action over the last month, she came out and allowed only one earned run in five innings. In total, she gave up four runs, three unearned, with three strikeouts. However, the usually steady Hofer allowed nine walks, which led directly to all three unearned runs. Cody Trahan came on in the sixth and allowed two runs on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in the final two innings.
“I’m especially proud of Dani because she really just gutted it out and tried to control their hitters,” said Girouard.
LSU jumped on the board early in the game. With two outs, Mitchell doubled to right field just beyond the reach of Holly Tankersley. After a walk to Quinlan Duhon, Mitchell scored on a double to left center by Roessner for the 1-0 advantage.
Louisiana-Lafayette evened the game in the top of the second. With one out, Brooke Brodhead doubled just out of the reach of a diving Hollis at shortstop. She moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Karli Hubbard. Broadhead then scored on an infield single by Katie Smith.
In the top of the fourth, the Cajuns opened the game up with three unearned runs. Three-straight walks to start the inning load the bases with no outs. On a fielder’s choice by Vanessa Soto, Hollis misplayed a ball to shortstop and was unable to make a throw to the plate and her throw to first was not in time to get Soto. The error allowed Hubbard to score from third. Then, with two outs and an 0-2 count, Lana Bowers hit a shallow single to left field that allowed Smith and Vallie Gaspard to come around and score for the 4-1 ULL lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers got back to within striking distance. Roessner reached to start the inning on an error by the shortstop. With Tiffany Shaw running for Roessner, Hollis doubled to center field to score Shaw from first. A single to left field by Sluss scored Hollis to put LSU within one, 4-3.
However, Louisiana-Lafayette put up two more in the top of the seventh that put the game out of reach. The Cajuns led off with back-to-back singles by Hubbard and Smith. The pair moved to second and third on an infield ground out by Gaspard. Soto then singled in both runs on a base hit to left field to conclude the scoring at 6-3.
Donna Bourgeois started and earned the win for ULL to improve to 16-4 on the season. She allowed three runs, only one of which was earned, on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts over five and two-thirds innings. Ashley Brignac came on in relief in the sixth and earned her third save of the season. She did not surrender a hit, while striking out one over the final inning and a third.
ULL 010 300 2 – 6 8 1
LSU 100 002 0 – 3 7 1
Donna Bourgeois, Ashley Brignac (6) and Lana Bowers. Dani Hofer, Cody Trahan (6) and Killian Roessner. WP ? Bourgeois (16-4). LP ? Hofer (19-8). S ? Brignac (3). T ? 2:42. A ? 1454.
2008 NCAA BATON ROUGE REGIONAL
Championship Game Quotes
Louisiana-Lafayette def. LSU, 6-3
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE CO-HEAD COACH STEFNI LOTIEF
Opening statement…
“We came out here today really focused on attacking at the plate. I’m really proud and pleased with the girls. They have stuck together all year and learned for each other as well learned to trust each other. This is what our motto is and it continued to be our motto. I’m so proud that they are able to play pitch by pitch the way they played today makes me happy for them. It is an honor to be advancing out of the Regional.”
On the young team…
“They are nothing like us this is the first time they have been in this situation. We both went out there with a rock hard mind set. The team has developed that over the season. They really trust each other and the defense. It’s good chemistry when pitchers can rely on their teammates. That’s a lot said for freshman to perform in this type of environment.”
On being the first team to eliminate LSU…
“It’s just another game and another team. We have played hard teams all season and have been to many different places. LSU is a great team and are very well coached. Each team came out today and fought hard. We knew we would be playing hard teams in postseason and I’m very proud of the girls and the effort they put worth today.”
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE SECOND BASEMAN VANESSA SOTO
On playing against her former teammates…
“We were not in control of where we ended up for Regionals, it just so happen that our teams meet up in postseason. We came out here committed to winning and we did what was needed to achieve that goal. We are now one step closer to our ultimate goal, which is going to the World Series.
On coming back and playing at LSU …
“I try and block all that out. It was good to see my former teammates. I took a moment to enjoy that we are playing on the same field and then focused with my teammates ready to win.”
On emotions after the game…
“I have a lot of respect for my old teammates. After the game I wanted to acknowledge the fact that I respect them as people and players. The entire team went out and worked really hard and it was a well played game. Two teams respecting the game and both working hard to succeed and fortunate we came out on top.”
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE PITCHER DONNA BOURGEOIS
On being recruited by LSU but going to ULL and being a freshman pitcher …
“You can’t eliminate Ashley (Brignac). Hard work pays off and I could not be any happier with my teammates. Everyone made huge contributions this weekend, it was not just pitching. It definitely makes a difference when you have the support and know your team is behind you. We could have played anyone; you come out with the same attitude every time and play pitch by pitch.”
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE CATCH ER LANA BOWERS
On her RBI…
“I knew I was not going to back down from the situation. I made adjustments and watched for the signals from Coach Mike. I knew I needed to pull these runs in and if I didn’t someone else would have.
LSU HEAD COACH YVETTE GIROUARD
Opening statement…
“First of all, I would like to congratulate the Cajuns. They played great. They stepped up when they needed to and certainly had a lot of fans with them. As for our team, I’m especially proud of Dani [Hofer] because she really just gutted it out and tried to control their hitters. Our kids played hard.”
On the closeness of the game…
“We were within striking distance, but all said and done, it plays out the way it’s supposed to play out. I always look at it that way. We battled hard. Some things may not have gone the way we wanted, but at no time did I think my team ever rolled over and played dead. They fought, fought and fought. As a coach, that is all you can hope for.”
On the outcome of the game…
“You’re going to make mistakes, you’re not going to make good pitches and you’re not going to always win. You want your kids to compete and that is exactly what we did. We just didn’t win.”
LSU PITCHER DANI HOFER
“I always think I can do better, but I think I did well today. I was focusing on hitting my spots and I thought I did that with a few exceptions.”
SHORTSTOP TAYL’R HOLLIS
On the disappointment of the loss to ULL…
“Losing is disappointing in general. You never really imagine your senior year or your last game. It’s disappointing to lose and I wish we could have come out of this. As Coach Girouard has mentioned, we fought as hard as we possibly could. Whatever happens, you can’t beat yourself up over it.”