University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
UALR
Fernandez Pitches Cajuns Past UALR in Game Two of Twin Bill
4/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns rebounded from a ninth inning meltdown with a 7-3 win in the second game of a doubleheader with Arkansas-Little Rock at Gary Hogan Field.
The Cajuns scored four runs early and let starting pitcher Jason Fernandez do the rest. The Baton Rouge native allowed three runs ? two earned runs ? in his second complete game of the season. He scattered four hits over the nine innings, walking five and striking out 10. Fernandez has struck out 10 or more batters in four of his last five outings.
Offensively, four different Cajuns had multiple hits in the game. Jonathan Lucroy, Jefferies Tatford, Josh Landry and Jameson Parker all had a pair of hits to pace the Cajuns. Lucroy led UL with three runs batted in. Landry added a pair of RBI and Tatford scored twice for the Cajuns.
In the second game of the afternoon, the Cajuns once again came out swinging. Devon Bourque drew a base on balls with one out. He moved to second base as Devery Van De Keere reached base on an UALR error. Lucroy doubled to right centerfield to plate the runners and give the Cajuns a 2-0 lead. A groundout moved Lucroy to third base. Tatford singled up the middle to score Lucroy. Landry, who was hitless for the weekend, lined a double down the left field line to score Tatford.
With the Cajuns leading 4-0 in the second inning, the Trojans cut the lead. The first batter of the inning reached on a fielding error by the Cajuns. The base runner, Ryan Gotcher, stole second base. He moved to third base on a wild pitch. Fernandez, who struggled with his control early, walked the next two batters to load the bases. Gotcher came around to score on a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Tim Lawrence singled up the middle to score another run and cut the lead to 4-2.
Both pitchers settled down after initial jitters. UALR's Rob Harmon surrendered four runs to the Cajuns in the first inning and then held UL scoreless for the next four innings. Fernandez struggled with his control in the second inning. He allowed two runs ? one earned run ? but threw a wild pitch and issued a pair of walks in the inning.
In the sixth inning, Tatford doubled to centerfield with one out to give the Cajuns a runner in scoring position. The Trojans changed pitchers following the double. Landry greeted the new pitcher with his second double of the game. The runner scored to give the Cajuns a 5-2 lead. Tim Santiago collected his first hit in Sun Belt Conference play. The designated hitter singled through the right side to plate Landry and extend the Cajuns lead to four runs.
The Cajuns added a run in the top of the ninth inning. John McCarthy led off the inning with a base on balls. He stole his team leading 18th base of the season to move into scoring position. McCarthy advanced to third base on a ground ball. He came around to score as Lucroy singled into right centerfield.
The run would come in handy as Matt King hit his third homerun of the day. King hit two homeruns in the first game of the doubleheader. The homerun was just the second homer allowed by Fernandez this season.
The Ragin' Cajuns will return to action with a pair of midweek games. The Cajuns will open the week with a home game against in-state opponent Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field. UL will hit the road on Wednesday for a game with Northwestern State. Both games are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and both games will be broadcast on ESPN 1420 KPEL.
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