CAJUN DEFENSE COLLAPSES AT SOUTH ALABAMA?May 10, 2002

5/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

CAJUN DEFENSE COLLAPSES AT SOUTH ALABAMA May 10, 2002

?MOBILE, Ala. – Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun baseball team made three errors in the first four innings and the offense had another quiet night, as 18th-ranked South Alabama took a 5-1 Sun Belt Conference victory Friday night at Stanky Field.

Jansen Rayborn led the Jaguars (35-13, 14-3 SBC) with two hits, while four different Jaguars added an RBI. Sam Smith (6-1) got the win, as the right-hander went the distance – giving up only five hits and two after the second inning.

?Catcher Mike Kabel paced UL Lafayette (33-17, 14-5 SBC) two hits and an RBI, and outfielder Corey Coles extended his hitting streak to eight games with a first-inning single. Left-hander Justin Gabriel (8-3) dropped his second straight outing after allowing five runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

?The 2000 All-American deserved a better fate, though, as only two of the runs were earned. The Jags plated three runs in the third with only one earned run.

With two outs and the score tied at 1-1, USA left fielder Ryan Mulhern hit a ground ball to third. But the Cajuns' Robert Shelton overthrew first baseman Phillip Hawke – allowing a run to score and the inning to continue. USA took even more advantage when Josh Touchstone laced an RBI single to left to make it 3-1.

?The Jaguars got another unearned run in the fourth when Jason Gross reached on a leadoff error and scored on Shane Scoville's RBI double. UL Lafayette's lone run came actually opened the scoring as Kabel ripped a two-out RBI single to left.

?The USA defense, meanwhile, was spectacular highlighted by Touchstone, who robbed the Cajuns' Bryan Sneed with a backhand stab, off-balance throw in the seventh.

?The two teams will continue the series at 1 p.m. Saturday.

--LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE--