University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Southeastern Louisiana
Ragin' Cajuns Down Southeastern Louisiana in Midweek Contest
5/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Eight of the Cajuns starters all had hits in the game for UL.
LAFAYETTE-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns baseball team stepped out of conference for a midweek game with in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana. The Cajuns scored early and cruised to a 9-2 victory over the Lions at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field on Tuesday night.
The Cajuns offense continued their hot play. The team totaled 13 hits on the night and all but one UL starter had at least one hit in the game, with four Cajuns collecting multiple hits on the night. The 13 hits tallied by the Cajuns marked the sixth time in as many games that UL had double-digit hits. It was also the eighth time in the last 10 games that the Cajuns recorded 10 hits or more.
Senior John McCarthy paced the Cajuns on the night with three hits on the evening. He reached base four times on the night and scored three runs. He had one of two doubles on the night for the Ragin' Cajuns and scored a run.
Devery Van De Keere, Jonathan Lucroy and Alex Preciado all had two hits for UL on the night. Lucroy doubled on the night and drove in a pair of base runners. Preciado hit his third homerun of the year and scored a pair of runs.
The UL pitching staff kept the Lions hitters at bay on the night. The Cajuns surrendered just three hits on the night. SLU managed just two runs off of the pitchers, with only one earned run.
The Ragin' Cajuns were the first to scratch the scoreboard. McCarthy drew a base on balls to lead off the Cajuns' half of the first inning. He moved over to second base on a groundout. A Van De Keere single advanced McCarthy to third base. Lucroy collected his team leading 48th RBI of the season as he hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to plate McCarthy and give the Cajuns a 1-0 lead after one inning.
In the second inning, the Cajuns added a pair of runs. Tim Santiago singled through the right side with one out to give UL a base runner. A sacrifice bunt moved Santiago to second base. Santiago scored on a single by McCarthy. He moved to third base on a fielding error by the right fielder. McCarthy came around to score as Devon Bourque reached base on a fielding error by the SLU second baseman.
With a 3-0 lead, the Cajuns added to their lead. Lucroy led off the inning with a double to left centerfield. Preciado singled to centerfield to send Lucroy to third base. Josh Landry singled to right field to plate Lucroy. Santiago hit the Cajuns' second sacrifice fly of the night to plate Preciado and increase the Cajuns lead to 5-0.
Starting pitcher Danny Farquhar pitched the first three innings. Farquhar allowed no runs on one hit striking out a pair of runners. He faced one batter over the minimum.
In the fourth inning, McCarthy led off the inning with a bunt single to second base. Bourque singled to centerfield to give the Cajuns a pair of runners. A bunt single by Van De Keere and a throwing error by Southeastern Louisiana allowed McCarthy to score and moved both runners into scoring position. Lucroy singled to centerfield scoring Bourque. Van De Keere scored on a double play ground ball pushing the UL lead to 8-0.
The Lions added a run in the fifth inning. SLU's Tony Suarez hit a solo homerun off of middle reliever Greg Wilborn. The homer was the first allowed by the freshman at UL.
Southeastern Louisiana added another run in the sixth inning. The Lions started the inning with a walk. A pair of groundouts moved the runner to third base. A fielding error by the Cajuns allowed the run to score.
Wilborn pitched three innings allowing two runs on just one hit on the evening. The hit was the solo homerun in the fifth inning. The second run was unearned in the sixth inning. He struck out one batter while walking one.
The Cajuns would add just one more run in the game. In the seventh inning, Preciado hit his third homerun of the season. The solo shot over the right field fence gave the senior a career high homeruns as a Ragin' Cajuns.
Gregory Harmon and Chad Beck pitched the last three scoreless innings for the Cajuns. Harmon gave up just one hit and struck out one Lions' batter, while Beck fanned one batter allowing no hits. The duo faced the minimum number of batters. The one runner that reached base on Harmon was erased with a double play.
UL will return to action on Wednesday, May 3 as the Cajuns head to Natchitoches to take on the Demons of Northwestern State. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. and senior Brandt Sanders will take the mound for the Ragin' Cajuns.
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