Bailey Watts and the Cougars were unable to come come away with a win against the Rajun’ Cajuns, dropping both games at Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday. | Kendra Berglund/The Daily Cougar
The Cougars came into Tuesday’s doubleheader at Louisiana-Lafayette looking to extend their two-game winning streak and keep their hot bats going.
Unfortunately, they came up short in both regards.
UH dropped the first game, 6-0, and the nightcap 4-0 to drop its record to 18-16.
Head coach Kyla Holas said Tuesday’s losses came down to a lack of determination, especially in playing from behind.
“We just did not have enough fight in us,” said head coach Kyla Holas. “And that is why we lost the game.”
Things started out promising for the Cougars, as Melissa Gregson singled to start the first game, but quickly sputtered to a hault when she was left stranded at second base.
Gregson factored into another wasted opportunity in the bottom of the first, this time picking off ULL’s Erikka Murphy at third base for the second out, and the Cougars came away unscathed.
UH freshman right-hander Bailey Watts (9-6) walked three consecutive batters in the second inning, forcing in a run but escaping further damage by inducing a ground out to end the frame.
The Cougars could not gather steam offensively, but they held the Cajuns until a fifth inning rally that scored four runs off of four hits. Taking a commanding 5-0 lead, ULL scored one more run in the sixth inning leading the Cajuns to their first shutout victory in 26 games.
In the second game, UH right-hander Baillie Lott took the mound, but the Cajuns continued to produce at the plate and took an early 3-0 lead off of Gabriele Bridges’ three-run homer in the first. Cajuns’ pitcher Donna Bourgeois allowed only one Cougar to get on base going into the bottom of the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, the Cougars had the bases loaded after a single and two walks, but the threat ended on Ashleigh Jones’ ground out. UL (21-11) tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth to push the final margin of victory to 4-0.
“We had been making a lot better pitches (last) weekend,” Holas said. “(Tuesday) we had way too many walks and you cannot give somebody that many opportunities.
“In that first game, all of their hits produced runs and ours didn’t. We gave up more than we could get back.”
The Cougars return to action this weekend when they head to Birmingham, Ala., to face off against Conference-USA rival UAB.
“If we want a chance to make it to post-season, this could make or break our season,” Holas said.
