University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Thrash Trojans 17-1 Behind 11-Run Marathon Fourth Inning
4/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Cajuns Thrash
Trojans 17-1 Behind 11-Run Marathon Fourth Inning
Louisiana-Lafayette's Austin Faught earned his ninth win of
the season
LAFAYETTE
–
Phillip
Hawke hit a three-run home run in the third inning and
the 21st-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns scored 11 runs
on 15 hits in the fourth inning to cruise to a 17-1
victory over Arkansas-Little Rock here Saturday
afternoon under overcast skies at M.L. "Tigue" Moore
Field.
With the win, Louisiana-Lafayette (38-8, 11-3 Sun Belt) moved to 30 games over .500 for the first time since June 14, 2000, when the Cajuns were 49-19 during their epic NCAA College World Series season. The win also clinched the Cajuns' fifth straight Sun Belt Conference series win this season.
Louisiana-Lafayette tied a season-high with 22 hits Saturday afternoon, which was accomplished earlier this season during the Cajuns' 19-3 thumping of then-No. 15 Wichita State on March 1 in Honolulu at the First Hawai'i Title Rainbow Baseball Classic. The Cajuns have now had at least 10 hits in nine of their last 10 games. The Cajuns are 8-1 in those contests.
Louisiana-Lafayette starting pitcher Austin Faught (9-0) continued his perfect senior season, allowing one run on one hit with a season-high seven strikeouts in seven innings.
Arkansas-Little Rock (18-27, 5-11 Sun Belt) starting pitcher Nick Enlow (3-8) never really found his groove, allowing 14 runs on 15 hits with four strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.
Arkansas-Little Rock scored a run in the opening inning, but that would be all it could muster, as Louisiana-Lafayette scored 17 unanswered runs including three home runs to take the 16-run victory.
Faught seemed to settle down after a rocky first inning thanks to timely defense and a Cajuns offense which has been dominate as of late.
After falling a home run short of the cycle during the Cajuns' 9-5 victory Friday night, Micah Cockrell provided the equalizer with his sixth home run of the season, tying the game at 1-1 in the second inning.
Louisiana-Lafayette scored three more runs in the third to take its first lead of the game, 4-1. John McCarthy drew a one-out walk, followed by Cockrell who singled through the left side. Phillip Hawke then cleared the bases with a three-run home run - his fifth during Sun Belt play and eighth of the season - to give the Cajuns a three-run advantage.
With a three-run lead in place, Louisiana-Lafayette would send 15 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, capping off an 11-run, 15-hit inning for the Cajuns. When the dust settled, the Cajuns had a 15-1 lead after four complete innings.
John Coker led off with a single to left field. Josh Landry then reached on fielding error by UALR third baseman Steve Bilokur, which advanced Coker to second. Jonathan Lucroy's RBI single to right field scored Coker to give the Cajuns a 5-1 lead. Morris followed with an RBI single through the left side which scored Landry, giving the Cajuns a five-run advantage.
McCarthy then reached on a fielding error by UALR second baseman Eric Bowman, which allowed Lucroy to score for the Cajuns third run of the inning. Cockrell then grounded out into 4-6-3 double play, but the Cajuns still plated a run as Morris scored increasing the Cajuns lead to six-runs, 7-1. Hawke, Morgan and Merendino followed with three consecutive singles with the latter hit scoring Hawke for an 8-1 Cajuns advantage.
The Cajuns' fourth inning scoring marathon continued as the Cajuns' batting order came up for a second time. Coker reached on a fielding error by UALR center fielder Tim Lawrence which scored Merendino and Morgan to increase the Cajuns lead to nine runs, 10-1. Landry followed with an RBI single to left field which scored Coker to give the Cajuns an 11-1 advantage. Lucroy then singled for the second time in the inning scoring Landry.
After the Cajuns scored their eighth run of the inning, the Trojans finally made a pitching change, sending in Scott Yant to replace Enlow. Morris doubled off Yant, scoring Lucroy and McCarthy tripled off Yant, scoring Morris to finish off the Cajuns' 11-run barrage.
Louisiana-Lafayette scored another run in the fifth and seventh innings to take a commanding 17-1 advantage, including Merendino's fifth home run of the season in the fifth inning.
Jeremy Collins and Ian Pecoraro combined to allow only two hits with two walks in the final two innings of relief for the Cajuns.
Arkansas-Little Rock's bullpen was a little more successful than its starting pitcher, allowing three runs on seven hits over the last 4 1/3 innings.
Morris led the Cajuns offensively, going 4-for-6 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Hawke went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Merendino went 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBI.
Seven of the Cajuns' starting nine tallied at least two hits, including Coker and Lucroy who each had three hits apiece.
Arkansas-Little Rock was held to just three hits, with three different Trojans recording a hit.
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns will conclude its three-game Sun Belt Conference series with Arkansas-Little Rock on Sunday with a 1 p.m. scheduled first pitch. Louisiana-Lafayette's Micah Cockrell (4-2, 2 Sv, 2.68 ERA) will get the start against UALR's Trevor Clay (3-3, 7.05 ERA).
Louisiana-Lafayette 17, UALR 1
(Apr 30, 2005 at Lafayette, La.)
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Arkansas-Little Rock 100 0 00 000 - 1 3 4 (18-27, 5-11 SUN
BELT)
Louisiana-Lafayette. 013 (11)10 10X - 17 22 1 (38-8, 11-3
SUN BELT)
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Pitchers: Arkansas-Little Rock - Enlow, N; Yant, S(4);
Brown, D(6); Bearden, B(8). Louisiana-Lafayette - Faught, A;
Collins, J(8); Pecoraro, I(9).
Win-Faught, A(9-0) Loss-Enlow, N(3-8) T-2:46 A-1412
HR UL - Cockrell, M (6); Hawke, P (8); Merendino, J (5).
-Ragin' Cajuns-
