STATESBORO - Georgia Southern's seventh-inning rally fell just short against No. 10 Louisiana in a 3-1 loss to the Ragin' Cajuns on Sunday at Eagle Field.
The Eagles fall to 16-18 overall and 3-9 in the league with the loss, while Louisiana is still unbeaten in Sun Belt play this season, improving to 12-0 in conference and 29-4 overall. Georgia Southern will return to action on Friday, traveling to UL Monroe for the first game of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against the Warhawks at 3 p.m. ET.
The Ragin' Cajuns led, 3-0, heading to the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to a solo home run from Sarah Hudek in the fourth inning, and a two-run single from pinch hitter Keeli Milligan in the fifth.
The Eagles got back-to-back singles from
Shelby Wilson and
Logan Harrell to lead off the inning, then after an out,
Allyssah Mullis walked to load the bases with one out. Pinch hitter
Macy Weeks drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home a run, but Summer Ellyson notched back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat and the game.
"To say I'm not disappointed would be an understatement," Georgia Southern Head Coach
Kim Dean said. "I am proud of the fact that we never gave up, we did play them close. I truly had a feeling that we would take this game. I thought we came out with good energy, with Mekhia [Freeman] leading us off with that double. It was just missed opportunities on our end. They're a great team, but like we preach to the girls all the time, everybody's got to play the same game as us. I'm hoping in a few weeks games like this we actually start taking as opposed to just saying that we put up a good fight."
Ellison (20-4) hurled the complete-game four-hitter to notch the win for Louisiana, giving up four hits and one run, walking three while striking out eight.
Rylee Waldrep (4-10) took the loss for the Eagles, giving up three hits and two runs in four innings of work, striking out two.
Wilson finished the day 2-for-3 while
Mekhia Freeman added a double to pace the Eagles offensively. Milligan and Kara Gremillion each had two hits apiece for the Ragin' Cajuns.