CAJUNS USE ANOTHER SUNDAY RALLY FOR SERIES VICTORY...March 25, 2001

LAFAYETTE – Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun head baseball coach Tony Robichaux said his team's goal always is to win two of three conference games each weekend by any means necessary.

That statement even includes overcoming another sluggish Sunday start in order to reach that goal.

For the second straight Sunday, that scenario played out as the Cajuns (19-10, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) rallied from a 4-2 seventh-inning deficit with back-to-back three runs innings for an 8-4 victory over No. 25 Florida International at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

Trailing by two in the seventh, Jess Poche hammered a 3-2 pitch from FIU's Matt Crandell (4-1) over the left-field wall to tie the game. Robert Shelton then welcomed reliever Ozzie Lugo with a triple and then scored when Doug Vicknair smacked a double over Mike Quintana's head in right for a 5-4 Cajun lead.

"Jess stepped up and had the big homer and Eric (Templet) held serve for us," Robichaux said. "He bent, but he didn't break and that's important. What we need to continue to see is that, when our older guys step up like Eric and like Andy (Gros) did the other night, the rest of the team is going to follow."

Despite blowing the lead, FIU (26-8, 3-3) did not go quietly back to Miami. The Golden Panthers put runners on first and second with one out in the eighth as Matt Huntingford walked, Hector Nunez singled to left and Brendan Hines sacrificed the runners ahead.

However, Gordon O'Brien's mastery of the curve ball shackled pinch-hitter Brad Eldred and Gus Alfonso as the Canadian-born reliever snuffed out the Golden Panther threat.

The right-hander then worked out of a second-and-third, two-out jam in the ninth for his third save of the season and seventh of his career, which moves him into a four-way tie for fifth place in school history.

Louisiana-Lafayette took that momentum to the plate in their half of the eighth, tacking on three insurance runs off Lugo.

Shelton delivered the key blow, a two-run double to the right-center gap with the ball landing near the same spot as his triple an inning earlier.

"My first two at-bats I was seeing the ball really well," said Shelton, who added an RBI groundout in a two-run Cajun fifth. "I didn't get a hit, but I hit the ball hard in my second at-bat. I tend to get down on myself and coach got on me and told me to stay positive and trust my swing. I went up there with a little arrogance in my last two at-bats and saw the ball well and hit it well."

Eric Templet (4-3) struck out nine in 7.0 innings to pick up the victory, which was the 22nd of his career, moving him into a tie for fourth place in the Cajun record books. Templet's nine strikeouts give him a career total of 236, good for third place in school history.

The Cajuns return to action on Tuesday, traveling to New Orleans to face Tulane at 6:30 p.m. at Turchin Stadium. Tulane took an 8-3 decision from the Cajuns on Feb. 13 at Moore Field.

Florida Internationa vs Louisiana-Lafayette NCAA Box Score Game Play-by-Play

Box Score

2001 Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun Baseball Florida Internationa at Louisiana-Lafayette Mar 25, 2001 at Lafayette, La. (Tigue Moore Field) Florida Internationa 4 (26-8,3-3 SBC) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg PAULK, Barry lf........... 5 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 HUNTINGFORD, Matt cf...... 4 0 0 0 1 2 4 0 3 NUNEZ, Hector 1b/rf....... 4 0 1 0 0 2 6 0 0 HINES, Brendan dh......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 QUINTANA, Miguel rf....... 3 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 ELDRED, Bradley ph/1b..... 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 ALFONSO, Gus 3b........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 NEW, Michael c............ 4 1 1 0 0 1 9 0 0 TORELLO, Mickey ss........ 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 BURGOS, Tino 2b........... 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 PUJOL, Raul ph............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ZERVAS, Paul p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 CRANDALL, Mathew p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 LUGO, Osvaldo p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals.................... 35 4 8 3 1 12 24 7 7 Louisiana-Lafayette 8 (19-10,4-2 SBC) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg VERRET, Chad cf........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 PREAU, Kevin ph/rf........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 HAYDEL, Rick ss........... 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 2 1 SIMONEAUX, Neil 2b........ 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 PAVLICH, Matt rf/cf....... 4 0 1 0 0 2 3 0 1 BAILEY, Bret pr/cf........ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 SNEED, Bryan lf........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 CARBONI, Scott 3b......... 1 3 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 POCHE, Jess 1b............ 3 3 2 2 1 1 7 1 0 SHELTON, Robert dh........ 4 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 SALOOM, Brad pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 VICKNAIR, Doug c.......... 3 0 2 1 0 0 9 2 0 BUNDY, Chase pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 KABEL, Mike c............. 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 TEMPLET, Eric p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 GROS, Andy p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O'BRIEN, Gordon p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 29 8 8 7 5 9 27 11 5 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Florida Internationa 011 020 000 - 4 8 0 Louisiana-Lafayette 000 020 33 - 8 8 2 ---------------------------------------------- E - CARBONI(4); POCHE(4). LOB - FIU 7; Cajuns 5. 2B - PAULK(6); BURGOS(2); SHELTON(4); VICKNAIR(3). 3B - SHELTON(2). HR - QUINTANA(12); TORELLO(2); POCHE(3). SB - NEW(1); VICKNAIR(4). CS - PAULK 2(7). SH - HINES(1); PREAU(1); SNEED(2). SF - KABEL(1). Florida Internationa IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA NP ZERVAS, Paul........ 6.0 3 3 3 3 7 21 24 96 CRANDALL, Mathew.... 0.0 2 2 2 0 0 2 2 12 LUGO, Osvaldo....... 2.0 3 3 3 2 2 6 11 49 Louisiana-Lafayette IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA NP TEMPLET, Eric....... 7.0 6 4 2 1 9 28 29 105 GROS, Andy.......... 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 O'BRIEN, Gordon..... 1.2 1 0 0 0 3 6 7 25 Win - TEMPLET, E. 4-3. Loss - CRANDALL 4-1. Save - O'BRIEN (3). WP - ZERVAS 2(4); LUGO(4); TEMPLET, E. 2(7). BK - ZERVAS(1). HBP - by O'BRIEN (PUJOL). Umpires - Home:Kevin Assman 1st:David Brooks 3rd:Brad Davidson Start: 1:03 pm Time: 3:06 Attendance: 1243 ZERVAS faced 1 batter in the 7th. CRANDALL faced 2 batters in the 7th. TEMPLET, E. faced 1 batter in the 8th.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

CAJUNS USE ANOTHER SUNDAY RALLY FOR SERIES VICTORY...March 25, 2001

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