BATON ROUGE—Solid defensive plays by #14 UL-Lafayette coupled with an Alex Stewart no-hitter and four errors by McNeese were the difference in a 6-0 Cowgirl loss here Thursday in the first game of the Baton Rouge Region. McNeese will play the loser of Friday's LSU-Fairfield game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game.
 
The game was scoreless after the first three innings despite an outstanding catch by UL-Lafayette's centerfielder Aleah Craighton that robbed Morgan Catron of a homerun that would have given the Cowgirls an early lead. The Cowgirls did get their first two runners on base off back-to-back walks to Tori Yanitor and Taylor Schmidt but left them stranded.
 
"You gotta tip your hat off to UL-Lafayette, they played an outstanding game and made some outstanding defensive plays," said head coach James Landreneau.
 
The Cajuns (46-6) threatened to score in the bottom of the third after a walk and a Cowgirl error but Haley Hayden lined out to Erika Piancastelli at third to end the threat.
 
Just like the Cajuns in the third, McNeese (42-17) also threatened to score the games first run when Catron was hit by a pitch. Pinch runner Marisa Taunton put herself in scoring position by stealing second. After Tori Yanitor drew a walk, both players advanced on a wild pitch putting runners on second and third. A ground out to second base by Taylor Schmidt ended the threat.
 
The Cajuns took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a double by Corin Voinche then added three more runs in the fifth on one hit and two Cowgirl errors for a 5-0 lead.
 
The final run of the game came in the sixth when UL-Lafayette scored on the fourth Cowgirl error of the game.
 
"We put some good bats together but at the end of the day, they made some good plays and we didn't," Landreneau said. "Four errors against a good team like that is tough to make a comeback."
 
McNeese used all three pitchers with senior Baylee Corbello getting the starting nod and also the loss to fall to 11-4 on the season. Corbello gave up two hits, two earned runs, three walks and struck out one. Senior Rachel Smith relieved Corbello and gave up four runs on two hits along with three walks. Freshman Alexsandra Flores faced batter and got the final out for the Cowgirls in the sixth.
 
The Cowgirls were held hitless by UL-Lafayette's Alex Stewart who improved to 26-3 on the year. The Cajuns picked up four hits with Voinche's being the only extra base hit of the game.