University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Nebraska
Cajuns Defeat Nebraska 8-2 To Win Series
5/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sunday, May 4, 2003
LINCOLN, Neb. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns baseball team becomes the first team to defeat the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a three game series here at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park by taking the rubber game of the series by a score of 8-2. UL Lafayette (23-26) has now won eight of their last ten games, while Nebraska (36-13) falls to 21-3 at Hawks Field in 2003.
Junior left-hander Austin Faught held Nebraska to just one run on four hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched with two strikeouts and two walks in the no decision. Junior Carencro, La., native Kraig Schambough came in with two outs in the fifth inning and combined with Faught to hold Nebraska to just two runs and eight hits on the day.
UL Lafayette started the scoring early with a three run first inning off Nebraska starter Phil Shirek. Dallas Morris and Corey Coles opened the game with consecutive singles and left fielder Bryan Sneed moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Following an intentional walk to Phillip Hawke to load the bases, right fielder Kevin Preau hit a base clearing double that scored all three runs to give the Cajuns a 3-0 lead.
Center fielder Corey Coles hit a one-out double in the third inning for his second hit of the game and came around to score the fourth Cajun run on a RBI single by Bryan Sneed.
The Ragin' Cajuns added a run in the top half of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly to right field by designated hitter Matt Levering that scored Ryan Core from third to give UL Lafayette a 5-0 lead.
Nebraska loaded the bases on two hits and a walk with two outs against Faught in the fourth inning, but Faught got Cornhusker right fielder Daniel Bruce to ground out to Ray Dees at shortstop to end the threat.
UL Lafayette scored for the third consecutive inning when Kevin Preau hit a RBI single that scored Corey Coles to put the Cajuns ahead by six runs.
The Cornhuskers scored a run off Faught in the fifth inning on a RBI single by Joe Simokaitis, before Kraig Schambough came on in relief to end the inning.
Nebraska added another run in the sixth inning off Schambough to cut the Cajun lead to 6-2. UL Lafayette responded with single runs in the seventh and ninth innings and Schambough held the Cornhuskers scoreless in the final three innings to give UL Lafayette the series. Preau drove in his fifth run of the game with a RBI single in the seventh inning that scored Corey Coles.
Shirek (4-1) suffers his first loss of the season for Nebraska after allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits in four innings pitched with one walk and five strikeouts. Kraig Schambough (4-1) picks up the win after holding Nebraska to just one run and four hits with two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings of relief.
Junior right fielder Kevin Preau went 4 for 5 on the day to lead the Ragin' Cajuns offensively with five runs batted in. Corey Coles scored four runs after going 3 for 4 to give him a team high 45 runs scored on the season.
UL Lafayette goes to 23-26 overall on the season after winning two out of three on the road against 4th ranked Nebraska. The Cajuns will return home to M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field after going 6-1 on the seven game road trip with a Wednesday night game at 6:30 p.m. against Nicholls State. Louisiana-Lafayette will continue Sun Belt play by traveling to take on Arkansas State starting Friday at 2 p.m. in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
