University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Minnesota
Ragin' Cajuns Edged by Minnesota in Ninth Inning
3/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LAFAYETTE-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns dropped a close decision to Minnesota, 3-2, on Saturday at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.
With the game tied at 2-2, the Golden Gophers' Andy Hunter singled to right field to start the top of the ninth inning. Hunter advanced second on a sacrifice bunt to give Minnesota a runner in scoring position. With one ball, two strikes and two outs, Taylor VanderAarde dropped a hit into centerfield that would score Hunter and give the Gophers a 3-2 advantage over the Cajuns.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, UL's centerfielder Cody Martin drew a base on balls to put the tying run on base. However, Martin would go no further than first base as the Cajuns' next three batters failed to get a hit and advance the runner.
Starting pitcher Jason Fernandez took the hard luck loss on the afternoon. The junior righthander allowed three runs, two earned runs on just six hits in 8.2 innings. Fernandez recorded a career high eight strikeouts, while walking three Gophers.
Minnesota scored a run in the first inning. Matt Nohelty led off the game with an infield single and advanced to second on an errant throw by the Cajuns pitcher Fernandez. Nohelty advanced to third base on a groundout and came around to score thanks to a Golden Gopher single.
Following the unearned run, Fernandez fanned four of the next five Minnesota batters.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Ragin' Cajuns broke Minnesota's starting pitcher Cole DeVries streak of 17.2 scoreless innings.
Devon Bourque led off the inning with a single through the right side of the infield. Martin followed with is first hit of the season to give the Cajuns their first scoring threat of the afternoon. John McCarthy grounded out to the first baseman to advance the runners. Bourque came around to score as Jameson Parker grounded out to the second baseman.
With the score tied at 1-1, Minnesota's Andy Hunter hit his first homerun of the year to regain the Gophers lead at 2-1. The homerun snapped a streak of nine consecutive batters retired by the Cajuns.
In the Cajuns half of the fourth inning, Tim Santiago reached base on a fielders choice and advanced to second on a groundout. Blaine LaFleur collected his second extra base hit of the series ripping an RBI double to left field to plate Santiago and tie the score at two apiece.
With the score tied at 2-2, the Cajuns threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning. UL loaded the bases with one out, but were unable to plate any runners as Jonathan Lucroy hit into the inning ending double play.
The score remained tied at 2-2 until the ninth inning.
The Cajuns finished the game with nine hits on the afternoon. Lucroy led the team with a pair of hits. Seven other Ragin' Cajuns batters collected hits on the day including Parker and LaFleur who drove in UL's only two runs.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Golden Gophers will finish the series on Sunday as the two teams meet on the diamond at 10:30 a.m. The Cajuns will try to claim the series behind the arm of starting pitcher Buddy Glass who enters the game with a 2-0 record on the season and a 0.82 earned run average.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
