University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns: Baseball
5/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Cajuns Split
Twin Bill, Capture Sun Belt Regular Season Crown
Saturday, May 21, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. –
It's official, but it didn't go as scripted. For the
first A 4-0 loss by New Mexico State at Middle Tennessee Friday night gave the Cajuns the No.1 seed in next week's Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament and the Aggies' 4-1 loss to the Blue Raiders on Saturday eliminated the Aggies from contending for the regular season crown. Game 2 (#19 Louisiana-Lafayette 11, Western Kentucky 1)
Western Kentucky (19-35, 7-16 Sun Belt) left-hander J.C. Faircloth (2-6) didn't last very long, leaving after two innings with an apparent injury to his throwing hand. Faircloth allowed six runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout. It didn't take long for Louisiana-Lafayette's emotions to show in the second half of the doubleheader. In the second inning, Alex Preciado launched an opposite-field, three-run home run to right field to give the Cajuns a 3-0 lead. Western Kentucky chipped back at the Cajuns' three-run lead on Antone Towns' RBI single up the middle, scoring Jordan Newton in the bottom of the second, cutting the lead to 3-1.
Justin Merendino had one of the Cajuns' four singles to lead off the inning, extending his career-high hitting streak to 15 games. Morris holds the Cajuns' longest hitting streak of the season with 20 games. Also, in the third inning, Phillip Hawke was walked for the 56th time this season, which gave him the single-season record for free passes.
Louisiana-Lafayette scored two insurance runs in the sixth inning to increase its lead to seven, 8-1. Merendino scored an RBI single over the third baseman by Morris and Landry scored on an RBI line-drive single to left field by Jonathan Lucroy. Another two runs came across for the Cajuns in the seventh, increasing the lead to nine, 10-1. Ray Dees later scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning to give the Cajuns a 10-run lead. Morris and Lucroy both went 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Merendino added three hits. Preciado drove in three runs on his three-run home run in the second inning.
Louisiana-Lafayette 11, WKU 1 (May 21, 2005
at Bowling Green, Ky.) (Gm 2)
Win-Faught, A(11-0) Loss-Faircloth(2-6)
T-2:57 A-286 Game 1 (Western Kentucky 14, #19 Louisiana-Lafayette 5)
Grady Hinchman (2-6) earned just his second win of the season, allowing five runs on seven hits with four walks and four strikeouts. After a couple of scoreless innings to lead off the first game by both teams, Louisiana-Lafayette took the first lead of the game thanks to the Cajuns' hottest hitter in the lineup. Merendino launched a solo home run over the left field bullpen fence, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. The home run, which was the eighth of the season, extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games. The lead, however, would be short-lived as the Hilltoppers would score eight runners over the next three innings to take a commanding 8-2 lead. With one out in the bottom of third, Eric Scriven reached on a fielding error by Josh Landry in left field and advanced to third base after Landry and centerfielder John Coker collided attempting to catch the fly ball. Scriven later scored on a Justin Morgan passed ball to tie the game at 1-1. Things began to unravel for the Cajuns defense and starting pitcher Kevin Ardoin (10-3) in the fourth inning. Jordan Newton drew a lead-off walk, followed by Marcus Ross who singled through the left side past a diving Dallas Morris to put runners on the corners. Newton scored on a fielder's choice by Towns. Towns advanced to second and Ross advanced to third on a Micah Cockrell throwing error. Casey Hamilton followed with a two-RBI single to center field scoring Ross and Towns to extend the Hilltoppers lead to 4-1. Louisiana-Lafayette got back on the scoreboard on another solo home run in the fifth inning. This time it was Morgan who put it over the left-center field fence for his third home run of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-2. However, Ardoin allowed a pair of singles in the fifth inning and was pulled in favor of Brandt Sanders. Ardoin threw 84 pitches in four innings, allowing six runs – three earned runs – on six hits with three strikeouts. Sanders would be just as ineffective in the fifth inning for the Cajuns. Sanders gave up four consecutive hits, including a back-breaking three-RBI double to right-center field by Towns to give the Toppers a six-run lead, 8-2. In the sixth, the Cajuns continued produce their runs via the long ball as they were able to cut the lead to three runs, 8-5. After Landry was hit by a pitch, Morris reached the 60-RBI plateau with a two-run home run over the left-center field fence for an 8-4 Toppers lead. The home run, which was the 11th this season for Morris, moved him into a three-way tie for fourth place on the school's all-time list. Chris Webb (62 RBI in 1996) was the last Cajun to knock in 60 runs in a season. Lucroy followed with a solo home run over the left field fence giving the Cajuns a three-run sixth inning. It marked the first time this season that the Cajuns hit back-to-back home runs in a game and the first time since April 9, 2004, when Landry and Justin Bourque hit back-to-back bombs against New Mexico State. The Cajuns' three-run rally was negated in the bottom of the sixth innings with a three-run Western Kentucky frame, extending the Toppers' lead to 11-5. Ross' two-RBI double to left-center field scored Tim Grogan and Corteze Armstrong, giving WKU a five-run advantage. Towns' RBI single up the middle later scored Ross for the Toppers' third run of the sixth. With two outs in the sixth, Sanders was replaced by Ian Pecoraro. Pecoraro retired the final batter to get the Cajuns out of the inning. Sanders allowed five runs on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings of work. Western Kentucky enjoyed another multiple-run inning, scoring three runs in the seventh inning to take a 14-5 lead. Towns paced the Hilltoppers, going 4-for-5 with a game-high five RBI. Casey Hamilton went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while three other Toppers had at least two hits. Merendino was the only Cajuns hitter with at least two hits, going 2-for-2 with a solo home run.
WKU 14, Louisiana-Lafayette 5 (May 21, 2005
at Bowling Green, Ky.) (Gm 1)
Win-Hinchman(2-6) Loss-Ardoin, K(10-3)
T-2:58 A-286 Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns will conclude their 60-game regular season schedule Sunday when they face Western Kentucky in a 1 p.m. series finale here at Nick Denes Field. Fans can tune into the game on NewsRadio 105.1 FM KPEL with Jay Walker, beginning at 12:30 p.m. -Ragin' Cajuns- |
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time since 1997, the Sun Belt Conference regular season
championship trophy will reside in Lafayette as the
19th-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns secured the title
with an 11-1 victory over 
Louisiana-Lafayette
(45-14, 16-7 Sun Belt) southpaw
After
allowing a pair of hits in the second inning, Faught retired
eight Hilltoppers in a row before Merendino's fielding error
in the fifth inning allowed Matt Wilhite to reach base.
