University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Middle Tennessee State*
Two Six Run Innings Propel Cajuns Past Blue Raiders
5/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Friday, May 12, 2006
MURFREESBORO, Tenn.-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns collected 20 hits including four homeruns en route to a 14-6 victory over Middle Tennessee. The Cajuns (33-16, 15-4 Sun Belt) scored six runs in two innings to take the lead and secure the win.
The UL offense shined on the night collecting 20 hits on the evening including eight extra base hits. Jefferies Tatford hit his first grand slam of his career, while Alex Preciado, Josh Landry and Scott Hawkins each added a homerun a piece.
Jonathan Lucroy hit a triple, while Devery Van De Keere, Devon Bourque and Tatford each added doubles on the night.
Landry and Van De Keere both had four hits on the evening. Tatford led the team with four runs batted in on the night and Landry added three RBI as well. Van De Keere and Bourque both scored three runs each to lead all Cajuns.
Starter Hunter Moody (10-2) earned the win pitching 6.1 innings of work. He surrendered six runs ? four earned runs ? scattering six hits on the night. He walked three batters and struck out five.
Danny Farquhar collected his second save of the year in relief. The freshman hurled 2.2 scoreless innings giving up just two hits and striking out five.
The Cajuns started off the game with a John McCarthy single to right field. He moved to second base on a Jameson Parker sacrifice bunt. The Ragin' Cajuns were not able to plate the runner as the next two UL batters were not able to get on base.
In the second inning, Tatford started off the inning with a double to right centerfield. Preciado laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Tatford to third base. Landry hit a single into leftfield, but it did not score a run, as Tatford was picked off at third base two pitches before the single.
For the third inning in a row, the Cajuns led off the inning with a base hit as Bourque singled into right field. For the third inning in a row, a sacrifice bunt moved the runner up a base. However, unlike the previous two innings, the Ragin' Cajuns managed to plate the runner in the third inning. A ground ball moved Bourque to third base and a Van De Keere double plated the runner. After two and a half innings of play, the Cajuns led 1-0.
In the Blue Raider's half of the third inning, Middle Tennessee managed to take the lead. MTSU led off the inning with a double to right centerfield. A walk gave the Blue Raiders a pair of runners and a sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position. A single just out of reach of Moody dropped into centerfield and plated both runners. The Cajuns escaped the inning without anymore damage, but trailed Middle Tennessee 2-1 after three complete innings.
The Raiders added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Moody induced a popup, but miscommunication by the Cajuns allowed the ball to drop in off of the glove of Van De Keere. With all of the infielders converging on the popup, the runner was able to advance all the way to third base, as no fielders were covering the bags. Moody struck out the next batter, but surrendered a homerun to give MTSU a 4-1 advantage.
Bourque led off the top half of the fifth inning with a double to right field. A single by McCarthy moved the runner to third base. Bourque came around to score and McCarthy moved to second base as the MTSU's pitcher threw a wild pitch. Parker hit a ball directly at the shortstop, but the ball hit off of his glove and he could not locate it, allowing Parker to reach first safely. Van De Keere singled through the right side to load the bases. The Blue Raiders recorded the first out of the inning on a fly ball. The ball was not deep enough to plate a runner. With the bases loaded, Tatford connected on his second homerun of the season and his first grand slam of his career. Preciado followed the grand slam with a homerun of his own. The back-to-back homers marked only the second time this season that the Cajuns had consecutive batters hit homeruns. Landry singled up the middle to continue the inning. Landry stole his 11th base of the season to move into scoring position. The Cajuns finished the inning with six runs to take a 7-4 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Cajuns added an insurance run. With two outs in the inning, Van De Keere singled through the right side. He came around to score as Lucroy hit a triple off of the top half of the 24-foot wall in dead centerfield. The triple was the third of Lucroy's career and gave the Ragin' Cajuns an 8-4 advantage.
Middle Tennessee cut the UL lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. A one out walk and a single gave the Blue Raiders a pair of base runners. A single plated a runner and the Ragin' Cajuns went to their bullpen. Farquhar entered the game and struck out the first batter he faced. A single scored another run and cut the lead to 8-6. The Cajuns made it out of the inning without giving up anymore runs, but entered the eighth inning with a two-run lead.
In the eighth inning, Van De Keere dropped a single just over the head of the MTSU shortstop for the first hit of the inning. Lucroy followed Van De Keere with a single through the left side of the infield. Preciado singled up the middle with two outs to bring Van De Keere home from second base. Cody Martin entered the game to run for Preciado. Landry hit his second homerun of the year to plate Lucroy and Martin and give the Cajuns a 12-6 edge. Scott Hawkins followed Landry with a homerun of his own. It was the second time on the night the Ragin' Cajuns hit back-to-back homeruns. Bourque continued the inning as he drew a base on balls. A walk by McCarthy extended the inning and gave UL a pair of baserunners. Parker singled to right field plating Bourque from second base. The Cajuns finished the inning with six runs on six hit, taking advantage of a pair of walks.
With a 14-6 lead, Farquhar closed out the night with two ground balls and finished off the Blue Raiders with his fifth strikeout of the game.
Louisiana-Lafayette and Middle Tennessee will play the second game of the three-game series on Saturday afternoon in a game scheduled for 4 p.m.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
