After UL shortstop Cecilia Vasquez suffered a finger injury two days ago, one of the Cajuns’ best bats off the bench has become a more integral part of the lineup.
Second baseman Gabbie Stutes' confidence soared in her new spot when UL needed it the most in Saturday’s 3-0 win over South Alabama at Lamson Park.
The Jaguars loaded the bases with two outs during a scoreless game in the top of the fifth inning when Olivia Branstetter hit a shot that headed up the middle. Instead of a pivotal base hit, a diving Stutes stabbed it and got the force out at second base to keep the game 0-0.
“Honestly, I was just trying to think, ‘The ball is coming to me, the ball is coming to me,’ ” Stutes said. “I’m doing whatever it takes to keep it on the infield. We had bases loaded, so I can get an out anywhere.
“I’m just trying to do it for Ciss (Vasquez). I know she obviously wants to be out there so bad. I’m trying to work on anything I can to fill in her shoes. It (team cheering the play) was awesome. It created so much momentum with the team getting super excited.”
The win allowed the Cajuns (23-22, 9-9 Sun Belt) to get their first conference sweep of the season and nailed down the 29th consecutive win over the Jaguars (17-27, 6-11). UL started the weekend in 10th place in the Sun Belt but now stands in the seventh spot.
UL next will play at No. 1 Texas A&M at 5 p.m. Tuesday before a key Sun Belt series at Texas State next weekend.
“It was a game-changer, it really was,” UL coach Alyson Habetz said of Stutes’ play. “If she doesn’t make that play, they score two and it’s a different game
“She’s played second base before, but she’s been in the outfield. Even at practice, she hasn’t been practicing there. For her to come in and field it flawlessly, we miss Ciss, but they all had her back.”
After getting greeted with high-fives after the stellar defensive play, Stutes played a key role in UL’s three-run inning in the bottom of the fifth.
Kayla Falterman and Erin Ardoin both singled to set the stage before Stutes, a St. Thomas More product, laid down a sacrifice bunt.
“Obviously, coach Aly has been big on bunting,” Stutes said. “We always practice bunting. I’ve never practiced bunting so much, so I’ve gotten really comfortable bunting. It just felt like a practice.”
Savannah White then laid down a squeeze bunt for the game’s first run.
“In that situation, coach Aly asked me if I’d rather squeeze or slap-and-run,” White said. “I said, ‘Squeeze all day.’ That’s something I‘ve worked on a lot. Sometimes I overthink it and I try to be too perfect, but in that situation, I just have to see the pitch and get it down.”
White’s work on the play wasn’t done. She then got caught in a rundown on purpose to allow Ardoin to get home for the second run.
“Coach Lacy (Prejean) was telling me, ‘Go, go, go’ because she saw it early,” White said. “I was just trying to get through first (base). The key is to make her (catcher Ansleigh Smith) make throws. They very well could have thrown her out, but they’d have to make a perfect throw and a perfect tag. Erin (Ardoin) did a very good job of going right when they threw it and making them make a quick throw.”
Laney Credeur followed with a pinch-hit double to left-center to finalize the three-run frame.
UL starter Mallory Wheeler got a no-decision, giving up no runs on one hit, five walks, a hit batter and three strikeouts in 4⅔ innings.
“I did not think she (Wheeler) was that wild,” White said of Wheeler’s outing. “I think she was throwing will. She had a tight zone. She’s got good movement and sometimes that’s hard for umpires … I think she did her job honestly.”
Tyra Clary got the win after going the final 2⅔ innings. She gave up one hit, one walk and struck out three to improve to 5-4 on the season.
Things got a little dicey in the seventh for Clary when she celebrated what she thought was a strikeout to end the game. Instead, it was ruled a walk to bring up South Alabama’s best hitter Gabby Stagner as the potential tying run.
“We’ve dealt with it multiple times this season, honestly,” White said. “We had a couple tight zones. I told her the whole time, ‘It’s me and you. You can’t control that.’ To me it was a strike — I’ll say that flat-out, it was a strike, but all she can do is throw her best pitch and that’s what she did. So all she can do is come back and throw another best pitch and that’s what she did.”
Stagner flew out to right to end the game.
“I’ll take it — our first sweep,” Habetz said. “It definitely builds confidence and maybe gets us over the hump.”
