University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Orleans
Ragin' Cajuns Survive Marathon Game
4/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Devery Van De Keere lined a single to right field in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift the Cajuns
LAFAYETTE-With two on and two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning, Devery Van De Keere singled to right field to plate a runner and give Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field. The Cajuns have now won eight straight home games including five consecutive conference games.
In the 13th inning with the score tied at two apiece, Josh Landry led off with a single to give the Cajuns a base runner. The Privateers were able to catch Landry trying to steal to give UL one out in the inning. Following the failed steal attempt, Jameson Parker reached base thanks to a walk. John McCarthy singled to move Parker into scoring position. New Orleans made a pitching change and was able to induce a pop up for the second out of the inning. With two runners on base and two outs, Van De Keere placed a 1-0 pitch into right field. The ball was deep enough to allow the speedy Parker to round second and score easily giving the Ragin' Cajuns a dramatic 3-2 win.
Van De Keere finished the game with three hits including the game winning base knock. The RBI was his only run batted in of the afternoon. The junior reached base safely four times to lead all Cajuns on the day.
The game was the longest for the Cajuns this season. The previous long was a 12 inning 5-2 loss to Texas-San Antonio in the Baseball Express Collegiate Baseball Classic on March 13. The game was 3:54, which is was the longest game for UL surpassing the previous long of 3:22 against Iowa on March 4 in a 14-9 win during the Louisiana-Lafayette Invitational.
Defense and solid pitching was the story of the day for both UL (22-13, 6-2 Sun Belt) and New Orleans (18-19, 4-7 SBC).
The Ragin' Cajuns recorded 38 putouts on the day including several clutch plays at key points in the game. Not to be out done, the Privateers recorded 39 putouts and UNO second base man Johnny Giavotella recorded a school record 11 assists.
Starting pitcher Buddy Glass worked nine complete innings. He surrendered only two runs on two hits in the game. The sophomore struck out 10 UNO batters, but had five walks on the afternoon.
Chad Beck picked up his second win of the season in relief of Glass. The junior pitched a season high four innings. He allowed no runs on just two hits. Beck walked two and struck out two.
Neither team was able to get anything going initially. Both starting pitchers held the other team without a hit until the third inning. New Orleans singled in the third inning for their first hit of the contest, but the base runner was picked off to end the threat.
In the Cajuns half of the third inning, Landry led off the inning with a bunt single. A sacrifice bunt by Parker advanced Landry to second base. McCarthy flied out to deep right field advancing the runner to third, but the Cajuns were unable to score a run leaving Landry stranded at third base.
The Ragin' Cajuns stranded another batter in the fourth inning. Jefferies Tatford reached base thanks to a walk. He advanced all the way to third base as the UNO pitcher attempted to pick off Tatford and threw the ball away. Tatford was left at third base as UL was unable to get a clutch hit.
New Orleans threatened in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, Glass let a pitch get away from him and hit T.J. Baxter. With the hit-and-run in effect, Baxter made it to third base easily as Mike Costantino singled through the left side. Glass would not let the runners advance any further as he struck out the next Privateer batter.
In the sixth inning, Glass struggled to find the strike zone. He led off the inning by walking the first two batters. The hurler fanned the next batter, but then walked the next two Privateers to plate the first run of the game. UNO used a sacrifice fly to make the score 2-0 after five and a half innings of play.
The Cajuns answered in the bottom of the seventh inning. For the second day in a row, trailing 2-0, Preciado cut the score to 2-1. On Saturday, the Yuma, Ariz., native hit his first homerun of the 2006 season to give Louisiana their first run of the ball game.
After the homer by Preciado, Grant Derouen drew a walk. Parker was hit by a pitch to give the Cajuns a pair of base runners. UL loaded the bases as McCarthy walked. Derouen came across to score on a wild pitch, tying the score at 2-2.
The score remained tied at 2-2 until Van De Keere's game-winning hit. Both teams had numerous chances to win the game but squandered opportunities to put the game away.
The Cajuns and Privateers will conclude the series on Easter Sunday. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Tigue.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
