The 20th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns opened up their 2018 Sun Belt Conference softball schedule in good news/bad news fashion on Saturday.

Louisiana split in a conference doubleheader with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in Conway, South Carolina, winning the opener, 4-2, before also dropping the nightcap, 4-2.

The doubleheader represented the first two game of a three-game, weekend, conference series.

The two games were the first true road games of the season for UL.

In the opener, Coastal Carolina got on the scoreboard first, scoring a run in the bottom half of the first inning, when Kassidy Smith collected a clutch two-out hit, scoring Kailey Mellon, who doubled to open the frame, giving them a quick 1-0 lead.

Louisiana tied it in the top half of the second inning, when Casidy Chaumont was hit by a pitch, and later scored on an RBI  groundout off the bat of Aeriyl Mass, to make it 1-1.

The Chanticleers regained the lead in the bottom half of the 4th inning, when Timi Tooley, who opened the frame by drawing a walk, scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Kailey Mellon, giving them a 2-1 advantage.

The Cajuns took the lead for good in the top half of the 6th inning scoring three runs on three hits, including an RBI double by Lexie Comeaux, as well as a sacrifice fly by Mass, to give them a 4-2 advantage.

That would be UL would need, as they went on to the 2-run triumph.

Louisiana, who was outhit by Coastal Carolina, 5-4, was paced at the plate by Beth Ashley, who went 2-for-3, while Mass drove in two runs.

Carrie Boswell (2-1) recorded the win in the circle for the Cajuns, tossing 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Kaitlin Beasley-Polko (6-5), suffered the loss for the Chanticleers, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits over 7.0 innings pitched.

View the game one box score here.

In the second game, Louisiana scored the first run of the game, plating a run in the top half of the third inning, when Mass reached on an infield single, prior to scoring on a Kara Gremillion single, to give the a 1-0 lead.

Coastal Carolina tied the contest in the bottom half of the third inning, when Alexis Alvino blasted a solo home run, her 4th of the season, to even things up, 1-1.

The Chanticleers took the lead in the bottom half of the 5th inning, when Alvino struck again, connecting on a solo homer, her second of the game, and fifth of the season, to give them a 2-1 advantage.

Coastal Carolina added two insurance runs in the bottom half of the 6th inning, courtesy of  solo homer by Kassidy Smith, her third of the season, followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of Natalie David, to widen their lead to 4-1.

The Cajuns were able to score a run in the top half of the 7th inning, and loaded the bases with only one out, but were unable to do anything more, as the Chanticleers would hold on for the 2-run win, to earn a doubleheader split.

Coastal Carolina, who evened UL in the hit department, 5-5, was paced at the plate by Alvino, who homered twice, and Smith, who also homered, while the Cajuns were paced by Mass, who went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Ashley Guillette (8-5) recorded the win in the circle for the Chanticleers. allowing two runs on 5 hits over 6.1 innings of work, while Beasley-Polko recorded the final two outs, earning her second save of the year.

Casey Dixon (3-1) suffered the loss for the Cajuns, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits over 4.2 innings pitched.

View the game two box score here.

With the doubleheader split, Louisiana now stands at 13-6, overall, and 1-1 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Coastal Carolina moves to 14-9, and 1-1, respectively.

The two teams will conclude their three-game set with a Sunday single game beginning at 11 am (cdt).

You can hear all the play-by-play action on sports Radio ESPN 1420 and espn1420.com, beginning with the pregame show at 12:45 pm.

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