University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Sticks Alive in 19-3 Rout
3/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Cajuns
Sticks Alive in 19-3 Rout
Louisiana-Lafayette tops Wichita State in Opener of Rainbow
Baseball Tournament
HONOLULU - No. 21 Louisiana-Lafayette pounded 22 hits on Tuesday en route to a 19-3 rout over Wichita State in both teams opening game of the 2005 Rainbow Baseball Tournament.
The win extends Louisiana's (11-0) unbeaten streak to 11 games, while the loss breaks WSU's (11-1) 11-game winning streak.
Eight of the Cajuns nine hitters had at least one hit, led by four apiece by John McCarthy and Justin Merendino. The lone exception, Phillip Hawke, had six plate appearances without an official at-bat, walking four times, hit by a pitch and adding a sacrifice fly. Hawke added three runs scored.
Leading 4-2, the Cajuns chased Shockers starter Mike Pelfrey (2-1) after five innings.
UL added six runs in the sixth thanks to four hits and a pair of walks. The big blow came on a three-run homerun to deep right by Jeffries Tatford. The damage was done to Shockers relievers Rob Musgrave and Jared Simon.
Adam Massiatte started the sixth inning with a single, followed by a walk to John Coker. Both runners advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by Josh Landry. Massiatte scored on a single by Merendino and Coker scored on a passed ball. Phillip Hawke walked and McCarthy singled to put two on with one out. Tatford then hit Simon's first pitch out of the park for his first homer of the season.
Cajuns starter Austin Faught (3-0) scattered five hits over five innings, allowing two earned runs. He was the beneficiary of some early offense.
The Cajuns loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the second. Hawke and Tatford were hit by pitches around a walk to McCarthy. Dallas Morris singled to left for the Cajuns first hit of the game, and first run, scoring Hawke. Pelfrey settled down to strike out the side.
The Shockers put two on the board in the bottom of the second. Blake Hurlbutt doubled to left-center before Tyler Hill singled thru the left side to put runners on the corners with one out. Tad Reida then put a bouncer to the right side that went off Merendino's glove at second and into the right field corner for a two-run triple.
Louisiana responded with three runs on five hits in the fifth inning. Coker, Landry and Merendino hit back-to-back-to-back singles, with Coker scoring on Merendino's base knock. Landry then scored on Hawke's sacrifice fly to left, while Merendino was plated by Tatford's sac fly to center field.
Up 10-2 after six innings, the Cajuns tacked on nine runs over the final three innings.
Coker singled and stole second in the seventh and scored on a single by Merendino to make it 11-2 Cajuns. UL then sent 13 men to the plate in the ninth, scoring eight runs. The biggest blow came on an inside-the-park grand slam by Landry.
Louisiana returns to action on Wednesday against South Florida at 2:30pm (CT).
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
