University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
South Alabama*
Ragin' Cajuns Fall in Conference Opener
3/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
A two-run hit in the bottom of the ninth cost the Cajuns against the Jaguars.
MOBILE, Ala.-With two runners on base and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, South Alabama's David Doss hit a single through the left side to give the Jaguars a 8-7 win over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns on Friday night at Stanky Field in Mobile.
The Cajuns (10-9) entered the bottom of the ninth with a one-run lead.
For the second straight inning, relief pitcher Chad Beck surrendered a base hit to lead off the inning. Beck walked the next Jaguar batter to put the go-ahead run on base. Following a sacrifice bunt, Doss lined a ground ball between the third baseman and shortstop to plate the two runners and give USA the 8-7 victory.
Beck (1-1) took the loss for the Cajuns. The hurler allowed two runs on three hits, while striking out a pair.
Chase Christianson earned the win for South Alabama, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings in relief.
The Cajuns put themselves in a position to win thanks to 14 hits by the UL batters. For Ragin' Cajuns batters had multiple hits on the night, including Devery Van De Keere who finished the night 4-for-5.
Van De Keere had three singles and a triple on the night to lead the Cajuns. The junior also scored a pair of runs to lead the Cajuns.
Senior Jameson Parker collected three hits on the night. The shortstop was a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle, connecting on a triple, double and a single. Parker led the Cajuns with three runs batted in.
South Alabama scored in the bottom of the second inning. The Jaguars led off the inning with a pair of walks. A sacrifice bunt advanced both runners to scoring position. USA's Lance Heisler hit a single to right field that Cajuns outfielder John McCarthy misplayed. The error cleared the bases and allowed Heisler to get to third base. UL would escape the inning without any other damage, but trailing 2-0 after two innings.
The Cajuns would threaten in the top of the third inning but failed to score. McCarthy atoned for his error by leading off the inning with a double to right centerfield. He advanced to third base on a groundout, but was unable to score as the next two Cajuns batters recorded the final outs of the inning.
UL took the lead in the top half of the fourth inning. The Cajuns used five hits, a walk and an error to plate five runs and take a 5-2 lead.
Jefferies Tatford led off the Cajuns half of the fourth inning with a single to left centerfield. Van De Keere singled up the middle to advance Tatford to third. Devon Bourque hit a hard ground ball to the first baseman. The USA fielder tried to record the force out at second base, but his throw was off the mark and hit Van De Keere in the back allowing Tatford to score and both baserunners to reach base safely.
Following the second out of the inning, McCarthy drew a base on balls to load the bases for the Cajuns. Parker doubled to the gap in left centerfield to plate a pair of runners and give the Cajuns the lead. Josh Landry loaded the bases once again as he reached first base on an infield single. With the bases loaded, Jonathan Lucroy singled up the middle to give the Cajuns a 5-2 advantage.
In the top of the fifth inning, Van De Keere made his third hit of the evening count lacing a triple down the right field line. Van De Keere came around to score on an RBI groundout by Bourque.
Leading 6-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Cajuns allowed the Jaguars to close the gap. South Alabama used three hits to score a pair of runs and cut the UL lead to just 6-4.
With one out in the sixth inning, Parker hit his first triple of the season to give the Ragin' Cajuns a runner in scoring position. Consecutive groundouts saw Parker stranded at third base.
The Jaguars tied the game scoring one run in the bottom of the sixth inning and the bottom of the seventh inning.
With the tying run on base, the Cajuns brought in Danny Farquhar in relief of starting pitcher Hunter Moody. Farquhar would hit the first batter he faced to put the go-ahead run on first base. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners and the tying run came across to score on a groundout to the second baseman.
The Cajuns regained the lead in the top of the eighth inning. Cody Martin led off the inning with his third hit of the season. Martin advanced to second base thanks to a McCarthy sacrifice bunt. Parker gave the Ragin' Cajuns the lead as the senior collected his third hit of the night ? a single to leftfield.
Parker slid just under the tag to steal his ninth base of the season. He advanced to third base on a groundout to the shortstop, but would be left stranded at third base once again.
In the USA half of the eighth inning, Beck's first pitch was hit for a single. The runner advanced to second on an errant through by Beck on an attempted pickoff. Beck calmed down and fanned the next two batters. With the tying run in scoring position, Beck induced a fly ball to the shortstop to end the threat.
UL failed to do anything in the top half of the ninth inning, going down in order and setting the stage for the bottom of the ninth.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Jaguars will continue the three-game series on Saturday afternoon at Stanky Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be available on Sports Radio, ESPN 1420.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
