BASEBALL OPENS SEASON WITH DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP

DOHMANN PITCHES CAJUNS PAST JAGUARS ... MARCH 17, 2000

LAFAYETTE – After engaging in a wacky three-game series at Louisiana Tech last weekend, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns returned to a sense of normalcy Friday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

That meant Scott Dohmann on the hill and enough timely hitting to back up another strong Dohmann effort. Behind the junior's second complete game of the season and a three-run second inning, the No. 10 Cajuns extended their winning streak to 14 with a 5-3 Sun Belt Conference victory over South Alabama Friday.

"Scott did another great job tonight," UL Lafayette head coach Tony Robichaux said. "He gives us a chance to win. With him on the mound, our hitters don't have to panic and try to score runs in a hurry."

Despite seeing a lefty-laden lineup for the first time this season, Dohmann secured his seventh win in as many decisions by striking out 10 and limiting the Jaguars' offensive chances.

"All I had early was a fastball and a slider," Dohmann said. "I had to establish myself early. The lefties hit me hard early because I wasn't getting my changeup over. I needed to get those guys out to stay in the game."

After allowing three runs over the fourth and fifth innings, Dohmann settled in, striking out the side in the sixth, and not allowing a Jaguar past first base over the final four innings.

The Cajuns (19-1, 4-0 ) seized the lead in the second inning by turning a Tim Merritt error into three unearned runs. After Will Hawkins extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single up the middle, Merritt dropped a potential double-play grounder off the bat of Tommy Clark, setting up a first and second, no one out situation for the Cajuns. After Danny Massiatte flew out, Jess Poche doubled to the right-centerfield gap, scoring Hawkins and moving Clark to third. Rick Haydel's grounder plated Clark and Poche scored on Neil Simoneaux's two-out single to right.

"We live and die by not giving up the three-run inning," Robichaux said. "Scott kept them from getting that. They ended up getting three, but it was two in one inning and one in another. Then we get the three-run inning and end up winning the game."

Massiatte would deliver a pair of two-out, RBI extra-base hits over the next three innings to give the Cajuns enough insurance. In the third, his double to right-center scored Nathan Nelson who had singled and stolen second base. Then, in the fifth, Massiatte crushed a triple to straightaway centerfield that brought Clark home. Clark had reached on an error by Jaguar third baseman Brett Parker.

The two errors helped lead to four unearned runs that spelled doom for South Alabama starter Peter Cooke, who tossed the first complete game of his four-year Jaguar career.

The series continues with a single game at 1 p.m. on Saturday as Eric Templet (6-0) takes to the mound for UL Lafayette.

--UL Lafayette--

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

BASEBALL OPENS SEASON WITH DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP

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