CAJUNS RIDE TEMPLET'S ARM PAST SOUTH ALABAMA...April 14, 2001

LAFAYETTE – Three times in their first four Sun Belt Conference series, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns put themselves in position to take a decisive 2-0 edge with Saturday victories.

The fourth time proved to be the charm.

Behind a stellar outing by senior right-hander Eric Templet, the Cajuns downed No. 13 South Alabama 4-1 at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field on Saturday.

"We decided to move Eric to the No. 2 spot (in the rotation) because we wanted to get that second momentum push," Cajun head coach Tony Robichaux said of Templet, who tossed 8 2/3 scoreless innings. "We got that. He did a good job of keeping them down until we got enough runs to let him get comfortable."

The Cajuns (23-17, 8-6 Sun Belt Conference) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Matt Pavlich grounded a single through the right side of the infield that scored Jarvis Larry from second base with two outs.

Louisiana-Lafayette had a chance to extend its margin the next inning after back-to-back singles and stolen bases by Neil Simoneaux and Rick Haydel put runners at second and third with no outs. However, South Alabama's Clark Girardeau (6-2) wiggled out of the jam unscathed with a couple of strikeouts.

Girardeau, though, would not survive the seventh.

After the Cajuns put up a pair of runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Jarvis Larry and a throwing error by Jaguar catcher Warren Hanna, Simoneaux singled sharply to left with one out chasing Girardeau.

Haydel then welcomed reliever Joe Long with a hard ground ball to third base that Josh Touchstone could not handle, putting runners on first and second. Two batters later, Scott Atwood lined a two-out single to left, scoring Simoneaux to give the Cajuns a 4-0 advantage.

Meanwhile, Templet (5-5) made sure the Jaguars would have no threats.

The senior right-hander struck out a career-high 13 and came within one out of his second career shutout as he moved into a three-way tie for third place in school history in career victories with his 23rd.

The Gonzales native scattered four hits in 8 2/3 innings, holding the Jaguars (29-10, 8-6) to their lowest hit total of the season.

Templet lost his shutout bid in the ninth when Scott Calahan bounced a single up the middle to plate Erik Smallwood, who had drawn a lead-off walk. Andy Gros relieved Templet with runners on first and second and two outs and struck out pinch-hitter Shane Scoville to end the Jaguar threat and collect his second save of the season.

"The bottom line is that we've had two great pitching performances," Robichaux said. "This game is all about momentum. We came in here lacking momentum. They had momentum coming in. We were able to take it from them (Friday) night and we kept it today. With momentum, you can be a good team. Without it, you're just an average team."

The series concludes on Easter Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest. Jordy Templet (3-0, 1.71) is listed as the probable starter for the Cajuns while South Alabama plans to throw Tim Davis (3-0, 6.08).

South Alabama vs Louisiana-Lafayette

NCAA Box Score Game Play-by-Play

Box Score

2001 Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun Baseball South Alabama at Louisiana-Lafayette Apr 14, 2001 at Lafayette, La. (Tigue Moore Field) South Alabama 1 (29-10,8-6 SBC) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg LIKELY, Cameron cf........ 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 SMALLWOOD, Erik rf........ 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 MERRITT, Tim ss........... 4 0 0 0 0 3 3 5 0 GRETZ, Nick 1b............ 3 0 1 0 1 0 7 0 1 MULHERN, Ryan lf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 CALAHAN, Scott 2b......... 4 0 1 1 0 3 2 2 2 STANKY, Kyle dh........... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 TSIMPIDES, Boo ph/dh...... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 SCOVILLE, Shane ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 HANNA, Warren c........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 10 4 0 TOUCHSTONE, Josh 3b....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 GIRARDEAU, Clark p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 LONG, Joe p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 31 1 4 1 3 14 24 12 6 Louisiana-Lafayette 4 (23-17,8-6 SBC) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg SIMONEAUX, Neil 3b........ 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 HAYDEL, Rick ss........... 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 SNEED, Bryan rf........... 3 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 BUNDY, Chase rf/lf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ATWOOD, Scott dh.......... 3 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 SALOOM, Brad 2b........... 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 3 2 LARRY, Jarvis lf.......... 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 VERRET, Chad cf........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 POCHE, Jess 1b............ 3 0 0 0 1 2 10 1 0 PAVLICH, Matt cf/rf....... 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 0 1 VICKNAIR, Doug c.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 10 4 2 TEMPLET, Eric p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 GROS, Andy p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 29 4 7 3 5 11 27 11 6 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- South Alabama 000 000 001 - 1 4 4 Louisiana-Lafayette 010 002 10 - 4 7 1 ---------------------------------------------- E - MERRITT, T(12); HANNA, W(8); TOUCHSTONE,J 2(11); SIMONEAUX(12). DP - Jaguars 1; Cajuns 1. LOB - Jaguars 6; Cajuns 6. 2B - LIKELY, C(7). SB - SIMONEAUX(10); HAYDEL(9); SALOOM(3); LARRY 2(4). CS - HAYDEL 2(5); POCHE(1). South Alabama IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA NP GIRARDEAU, Clark.... 6.1 6 4 2 5 8 23 28 111 LONG, Joe........... 1.2 1 0 0 0 3 6 6 22 Louisiana-Lafayette IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA NP TEMPLET, Eric....... 8.2 4 1 1 3 13 30 33 140 GROS, Andy.......... 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 5 Win - TEMPLET, E. 5-5. Loss - GIRARDEAU, C 4-2. Save - GROS (2). Umpires - Home:Steve Dew 1st:Mike Chandler 3rd:John Kleis Start: 1 p.m. Time: 2:27 Attendance: 1525

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

CAJUNS RIDE TEMPLET'S ARM PAST SOUTH ALABAMA...April 14, 2001

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