Louisiana softball shut out by Washington in Seattle Super Regional opener

When the score is tight and it's the super regional, not giving up free bases is paramount.

Louisiana softball starting pitcher Sam Landry gave up two bags, including a hit-by-pitch to lead off the fourth. Two batters later, SilentRain Espinosa dropped in a ground-rule double to give No. 7 national seed and host Washington the 1-0 lead.

Next batter, freshman Sydney Stewart hit just her second home run of the season and the Huskies went on to take the Seattle Super Regional opener, 8-0, in five innings Friday night at Husky Stadium.

Landry was chased after 3⅓ innings, responsible for three runs off three hits and two walks.

In its first super regional appearance since 2016, UL (50-15) will have to now win two straight games to get back to the Women's College World Series.

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Louisiana softball struggled to get offense going against Washington pitcher Ruby Meylan

A strength of Washington freshman starting pitcher Ruby Meylan is her velocity, consistently hitting high 60s on the radar gun. Louisiana's lineup had a hard time getting a good eye on Meylan's high fastball.

The Cajuns struck out six times through the first three innings and didn't manage a hit until the fourth inning with a two-out double from sophomore Jourdyn Campbell. Between Campbell's extra base hit and a few walks, UL did have a few baserunners in the first half of the game but couldn't come up with the timely hit.

Ragin' Cajuns needed to avoid the big inning. They didn't.

Just like in the regional final against McNeese State last weekend, when Washington gets the bats rolling, they're hard to shut off.

After garnering one hit through the first three frames, the Huskies came to life in the fourth, tallying five hits and plating five runs. Espinosa had the double, then Stewart with the homer before Alana Johnson had a single to set up another two-run blast for Rylee Holtorf.

Ragin' Cajuns' Jourdyn Campbell continues her postseason hot streak at the plate

There are a few Cajuns that are having a successful postseason offensively, like Sophie Piskos, Lauren Allred and senior Karly Heath. But none are delivering in a timely fashion better than Campbell.

She tallied eight RBIs in the two wins over LSU in the regional final, with a three-run homer and a grand slam along wit the eventual regional-winning RBI single.

Campbell carried that momentum into Seattle, getting UL's first hit of the night, a double.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.