University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Mexico State
Cajuns Out-Hit Aggies, But Falter In Eighth As NMSU Claims Series 2-1
4/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sunday, April 6, 2003
LAS CRUCES, NM - Louisiana's
Ragin' Cajuns baseball team falls to New Mexico State by
a score of 8-7 here at Presley Askew Field in the final
game of the three game series. UL Lafayette (12-23)
loses two out of three and drops to 4-5 in the Sun Belt,
while New Mexico State (27-8) improves to 6-3 in the
conference. The Cajuns suffered the loss despite out
hitting the Aggies 17-11.
Louisiana-Lafayette started right-hander Jordy Templet
on the mound against Christian Jackson for New Mexico
State. Templet (3-3) received a no decision after
throwing 6 1/3 innings and allowing six runs (five
earned) on eight Aggie hits.
The Cajuns scored first to take an early 1-0 lead. UL Lafayette designated hitter Rhett Buras doubled to lead off the second inning and moved over to third on a single by catcher Ryan Core. Buras scored the first run of the game when second baseman Brad Saloom grounded into a double play.
New Mexico State scored two runs against Templet in the third inning after loading the bases with one out. Aggie second baseman Brad Ditter drove in both runs on a single to center field to give New Mexico State a 2-1 lead.
Both teams swapped runs in the fifth inning to make it 3-2. Rhett Buras singled off Jackson to drive in Jason Wilson with the tying run for the Cajuns in the top half of the inning. New Mexico State first baseman Billy Becher drove in his fifth run of the series with a double to put the Aggies back on top.
New Mexico State catcher Mark Keller extended the Aggie lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-run homerun off Templet.
UL Lafayette rallied for four runs in the seventh inning to take a 6-5 lead. Jason Wilson and Dallas Morris opened the inning off Jackson with consecutive singles before Corey Coles drove Wilson home with a double to right field. Jackson left the game following the double and was replaced by Mike Smith on the mound for New Mexico State. Brad Saloom singled to right field with one out in the inning to score two more Cajun runs. Right fielder Kevin Preau drove in the fourth run of the inning with a single to right field. Saloom advanced to third on Preau's single and scored an apparent fifth run after tagging up on a fly ball out to center field by Phillip Hawke. New Mexico State appealed the play and Saloom was called out after it was ruled by the umpire that he left the base early.
With one out in the bottom half of the seventh inning Templet was relieved by Austin Faught after walking Becher. Becher scored on a Cajun infield throwing error to tie the game 6-6.
Cajun third baseman Dallas Morris reached base on his third hit of the game with two outs in the eighth inning. Corey Coles plated Morris with a single to right field to put the Cajuns ahead 7-6.
New Mexico State scored the tying and eventual game winning runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning. Alex Borgo scored the tying run on a RBI double by Brad Ditter and Hal Bisnett scored the winning run from third on a Cajun infield error with the bases loaded.
Aggie pitcher Mike Smith (4-1) picked up the win after holding the Cajuns to just two runs in three innings of work. Austin Faught (2-3) suffers the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) in one inning of relief.
Louisiana-Lafayette had four hitters with three hits on the day and totaled a season high 17 hits despite the loss. Dallas Morris led the offense with three hits on the day to bring his series total to seven hits, a homerun and seven runs scored in three games. The Cajuns had three other hitters with six hits each over the weekend.
UL Lafayette falls to 12-23 overall on the season and returns to action Wednesday night at Southeastern Louisiana. The first pitch is slated for 6:30 pm in Hammond, La.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
