CONWAY, S.C. – On Friday, at St. John Stadium, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers picked up a win over the No. 8 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns by the score of 7-1. With the victory, Coastal Head Coach Kelley Green earned herself the 700th win of her career on the same day her softball team made school history by knocking off its first-ever top 10-ranked opponent.
Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the first as Alyssa Dalton led off with a single, eventually coming around to score on a Melissa Mayeux RBI groundout.
In the third inning, the Chanticleer coaching staff played the matchup game in the circle with the heavily laden left-handed-hitting lineup of Louisiana.
Chant starter Kaitlin Beasley-Polko worked the first two innings before reliever Ally Marcano took over in the third, retiring six-consecutive Ragin' Cajuns.
Meanwhile, in the bottom of the third, Mackenzie Beyer worked a leadoff walk off from Louisiana starter Megan Kleist to set up the fourth home run of the season by junior Stavi Augur to give Coastal a 2-1 advantage.
It was a no better time than the bottom of the fourth inning that CCU rookies Iyanla DeJesus and Mary Sobataka would connect for their first career home runs, chasing Kleist from the game and giving a Coastal Carolina, a big 4-1 lead.
2020 Preseason All-Sun Belt Courtney Dean got in on the home run party for CCU in the fifth inning as she hit a dart to straight-away centerfield, extending the Chanticleer margin to 5-1.
The matchups continued in the top of the sixth inning as the CCU coaches moved DeJesus from the designated player position to pitcher. Before Friday's game, the freshman has been limited to two innings early in 2020, but on this day, the righty would give another look to the Louisiana bats they've never seen. DeJesus worked 1.1 innings of scoreless softball under a lot of pressure, allowing one hit, with one strikeout.
CCU took a 7-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth with two runs on back-to-back hits by sophomore Sydney Guess and junior Makiya Thomas.
In the top of the seventh inning, Louisiana found themselves with runners on first and second with one out, but the Chanticleers coaches continued to play the matchup game for the fourth time in the evening, calling for freshman Raelee Brabham in the bullpen. The Moncks Corner, S.C. native's first batter faced, was Melissa Alderink, chopped a weak ground ball past the righty, loading the bases full of Cajun runners. Brabham got Kendall Talley to fly out to centerfield for out two, but on the same play, third base runner Julie Rawls was ruled out for leaving the base early on the tag up, ending the game in a CCU 7-1 victory.
Friday's win also marks the first time in 30 Sun Belt Conference games that an opponent has beaten Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajun's last conference defeat occurred on Apr. 28, 2018 at UT Arlington by a score of 4-3.
Ally Marcano earned her third win of the season by going 3.0 innings with three strikeouts.
Dean led the CCU offense with two hits, including her first home run of the season.
Kelley Green's first victory career happened almost 20 years years ago to the day on Mar. 15, 2000, when she coached Lock Haven University to a 3-1 win over Kutztown University.
The last time CCU earned a victory over a ranked opponent happened on Mar.10, 2018 versus the No. 22 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.
The Chanticleers improve to 13-5 overall and 1-0 in conference play, and Louisiana falls to 14-6 overall with a 0-1 conference record.
The two teams will square off on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSB(twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers(Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.
