Missed Opportunities Strand Baseball in Loss to Wichita State
3/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 16, 2002
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES STRANDCAJUNS IN LOSS TO WICHITASTATE
WICHITA, Kan. – Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns baseball team received an outstanding performance from starting pitcher Donnie Bair, but the bats left him stranded in a 3-1 loss to Wichita State here on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium.
Though the Cajuns (12-8) did pound out nine hits (six more than yesterday), they failed to nail down the timely hits when they needed it.
None was more evident than in the first and fourth innings.
UL Lafayette led off the top of the first with back-to-back singles from Charles Redmond and Justin Bourque. However, the Cajuns would squander the opportunity to score runs when Redmond was caught in a rundown at third on a fielders choice by Corey Coles and Bourque was caught stealing at third.
Bryan Sneed would then ground out to second base for the final out and end the Cajuns' threat.
Once again in the fourth the Cajuns had base runners in scoring position only to miss out on the timely hits. UL Lafayette received three straight singles from Bourque, Coles and Sneed to load the bases. Unfortunately for Louisiana-Lafayette, the next three batters never made contact.
Brad Saloom, Phillip Hawke and Robert Shelton each struck out and WSU escaped the inning leaving the bags full of Cajuns.
Head coach
Tony Robichaux knows that against a good team like the seventh-ranked Shockers, taking advantage of any opportunities when they arrive is the key and the Cajuns failed to do so today.
“We had the opportunity to chase a good pitcher from the game,” Robichaux said. “We let him get off the hook a couple of times and you can't do that against good teams.”
The Shockers (10-1) got on the board first in the fifth when first baseman Logan Sorensen ripped a solo shot off of Cajun starter Donnie Bair.
The Cajuns fought right back with a run of their own in the sixth. Bourque led off the inning and reached on an error by WSU third baseman Mark Johnson. Bourque would advance to second on a Sneed ground out to first base. Saloom then singled in Bourque to tie things up 1-1.
WSU would take the lead back in the bottom half of the sixth when Johnson singled in Randy Walter for the game-winning run. The Shockers would add an insurance run in the eighth when designated hitter Drew Moffitt scored on a wild pitch from UL Lafayette reliever Ken Brown.
Louisiana-Lafayette would not go away quietly though. The Cajuns had runners on first and second with one out in the ninth. WSU closer Steve Haines would end the threat by getting Chase Lambin to pop up to shortstop and striking out Chad Verret.
Bair (0-1) took the hard-luck loss for the Cajuns, who have scored just four runs in their last three games. Bair went six innings striking out six and allowing just four hits.
“I thought Donnie did a great job,” Robichaux said. “But that's the second straight pitching performance that we've squandered.”
Adam Peterson picked up the win for the Shockers and Haines collected his second save of the season.
The two teams will conclude the three-game series Sunday at noon. Justin Gabriel will take the mound for the Cajuns and he will battle with WSU's David Sanders as the Cajuns attempt to leave Wichita with at least one win.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
