Hamilton, power bats keep UL unbeaten

Throwing three straight days wasn’t part of either one’s routine so far this season.

So it wasn’t a huge shock to UL’s coaching staff when Jordan Wallace didn’t seem to have it in the first inning of Sunday’s 11-3 victory over McNeese State in the final game of the Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational at Lamson Park.

“Jordan didn’t have her legs,” UL coach Michael Lotief said. “Her velocity was down in the bullpen. It wasn’t so much her fingers. It was her legs.”

So after Wallace yielded a pair of runs in the first – highlighted by an Erika Piancastelli homer – Lotief didn’t waste time giving Christina Hamilton a try.

“We hadn’t let either one go three days in a row,” he said. “But with Jordan being a power pitcher, it would be a little tougher for her (on third day) than Christina.”

That certainly proved to be the case. Hamilton lasted the rest of the way, giving up one solo homer, one walk and struck out three in four innings to improve to 3-0 on the season.

“What Christina did out there today was impressive,” Lotief said. “Christina doesn’t have to rely as much on her velocity. She lost her legs to about 30 pitches in and did the rest on guts.”

Hamilton’s job was made easier by the 11-run offensive explosion by the Cajun lineup. Haley Hayden got it going with her seventh home run of the season to lead off the game and Aleah Craighton later made it a big first inning with a two-run triple. Craighton now has 17 RBIs in her first 14 games at the Division I level.

Then Shellie Landry was back at it in the second with a clutch, two-out RBI double to leftcenter to make it 5-2. Landry finished the game 2-for-4 with a double. Landry was named as the tournament’s MVP after hitting .411 with four runs, a double, two homers and seven RBIs.

UL continued to take advantage of McNeese‘s wildness in the circle when pinch-hitter Sara Corbello drew a bases-loaded walk for a 6-2 lead in the third. Three MSU pitchers walked seven and hit four batters in the five-inning affair.

Craighton’s sacrifice fly in the fourth got the Cajuns closer to a run-rule victory, before Lexie Elkins delivered the big blow with a three-run home run to left in the fifth for an 11-2 lead.

“I just told myself to have a good at-bat,” Elkins said, “to trust your approach.”

While Elkins may not off to the superb start she was on a year ago, the homer did give her six homers and 14 RBIs on the season.

“She’s a little off,” Lotief said, “She’s squaring off pitches right not and the balls just aren’t jumping off her bat. Last year, they were just jumping off her bat. We’ve got a little work to do to refine it.”

The victory improved the No. 6-ranked Cajuns’ start to 14-0 with a three-game series at Alabama next weekend on deck.