University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
UALR
Ragin' Cajuns Open Series with 3-1 Win
4/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns needed a short game to try to avoid bad weather in the Little Rock area and got just that. The Cajuns (28-13, 11-2 Sun Belt) won 3-1 against the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans in the shortest game for UL in the 2006 season at 2:07.
Starting pitcher Hunter Moody (8-2) continued to shine on the mound for the Cajuns. The sophomore went 8.0 innings allowing just one run. The 15th ranked pitcher in the nation struck out five batters without allowing a walk. The southpaw scattered nine hits and only one extra base hit in the game.
Neither team issued a walk on the evening, but the Cajuns benefited from a pair of Trojan errors. The Cajuns were a perfect 38-for-38 in fielding opportunities extending their errorless streak to four straight games.
The Ragin' Cajuns offense put together 10 or more hits for the third consecutive game. The 10 hits marked the fourth time in five games and the fifth time in the last seven games the Cajuns put together double-digit hits.
Three Cajuns had multiple hits on the night. Jameson Parker led UL with three hits on the night, while John McCarthy and Jonathan Lucroy both had a pair of hits apiece. McCarthy, Alex Preciado and Scott Hawkins scored the three runs for the Cajuns with Lucroy, Parker and Hawkins driving in those runs.
The Cajuns took the lead in the top half of the first inning. McCarthy led off the game with a bloop single into left centerfield just out of reach of a sliding left fielder. Devon Bourque moved McCarthy to second base with his team leading ninth sacrifice bunt of the season. McCarthy moved to third base as Devery Van De Keere reached base on an error. McCarthy came around to score as Lucroy singled up the middle for his team leading 42nd run batted in.
In the fourth inning, the Ragin' Cajuns added a pair of runs to extend their lead. With one out, Preciado doubled off of the centerfield wall to give the Cajuns a runner in scoring position. Hawkins stepped up to the plate with two outs and Preciado on second base. Hawkins singled through the right side to plate Preciado. Parker followed Hawkins with an RBI double off of the right centerfield fence. Parker tried to extend the double into a triple and was called out at third base to end the inning. The run by Hawkins counted and the Cajuns led after three and a half innings of play by a score of 3-0.
The Trojans threatened in the bottom of the fourth inning. After recording the first out of the inning, Arkansas-Little Rock strung together a pair of back-to-back singles. The runner on second base was the first runner in scoring position allowed by the Cajuns. UALR hit a fly ball to deep left centerfield. Preciado came over to make the catch and threw back to second base in time to double up the runner to end the inning.
UALR threatened again in the sixth inning. A pair of singles put runners at first and second for the Trojans, but for the second time in the ballgame, a double play ended the threat. This time Parker got the force at second base and threw to first base in time to complete the double play.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Cajuns threatened but were unable to plate any runners. With one out, Parker singled to first base. He advanced to third base as McCarthy singled off of the first base bag. McCarthy tried to stretch the single into a double and was called out at second base for the second out of the inning. Parker would go no further as the Trojans retired the next UL batter.
The Cajuns had their chance to pad their lead and were unable to generate any offence. Lucroy grounded to third base but was able to not only reach base, but advance to second base on a throwing error by the UALR third baseman. He moved to third base as Jefferies Tatford collected his first hit of the evening. Tatford moved to second base as Preciado struck out, but a ground ball ended the Cajuns threat in the inning.
Arkansas-Little Rock broke up the shutout in the bottom of the eighth inning. UALR's Tim Lawrence led off the inning with a double, the first extra base hit Moody allowed on the night. Lawrence advanced to third base on a groundout and came across to score on an infield single to third base. In the inning, the Trojans put together three hits, but were only able to score Lawrence and cut the UL lead to 3-1.
Chad Beck came into the game in the ninth inning to pick up his fifth save of the year. Beck retired the Trojans in order with one strikeout. He induced a groundout and caused a pop up to secure the victory for the Cajuns.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Trojans will continue the series on Saturday, April 29 in a game set for 2 p.m.
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