University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Arkansas State
Cajuns Survive Slugfest for First Round Victory
5/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns opened the 2006 Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Championship with an 8-7 win over Arkansas State in a game that featured five homeruns between the two teams. The win was just the second first-round win for the Cajuns since the tournament converted to a two-bracket system.
The two teams combined for five homeruns on the day with UL collecting a pair and ASU belting three.
One of the homeruns was a Jonathan Lucroy grand slam in the bottom of the first inning. The grand slam was the second of Lucroy's career and the team leading 11th homerun for the sophomore.
Jameson Parker added the other homerun for the Cajuns in the second inning. The homer was number two on the season for Parker and No. 3 for the senior as a Cajun. The homerun was his second homerun in Sun Belt Conference play. In the 2005 conference tournament, Parker hit a two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning to lift the Cajuns to a 6-4 win over Western Kentucky.
A day after receiving the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year award, starting pitcher Hunter Moody had the worst game of his young career. The sophomore threw five innings, surrendering seven runs on 11 hits. The seven runs, which were all earned, were a career high for both runs allowed and earned runs allowed. Moody gave up a career high three homeruns in his shortest outing of the season. Despite the poor performance, Moody still earned the win improving to 12-2 on the season.
Freshman pitcher Danny Farquhar entered the game in the sixth inning in relief of Moody. Farquhar earned his third save of the season working four scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, struck out four, but did walk three.
Arkansas State took an early lead in the first inning. The Indians led off the inning with a single. The runner moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. A double plated the runner and gave ASU a 1-0 lead. The Cajuns recorded the second out of the inning with a deep fly ball that advanced the runner to third base. With a 2-2 count on the next batter, Arkansas State lined a ball down the leftfield line that was just fair to plate the second runner of the inning. A single just over the head of second baseman Devon Bourque scored another runner. A stolen base moved the base runner into scoring position. The runner went no further as a fly ball ended the inning.
The Cajuns responded in the bottom half of the first inning. John McCarthy led off with a walk and moved to second base as Parker singled through the right side of the infield. Devery Van De Keere loaded the bases with a single of his own. With the bases loaded, Lucroy homered to left centerfield for his second grand slam of the year. Jefferies Tatford extended the inning, reaching base on a fielding error. The Ragin' Cajuns were unable to produce any more runs as the Indians retired the next three batters in order. After one inning of play, the Cajuns had a one-run lead at 4-3.
In the second inning, UL extended their lead. Bourque drew his team leading 45th walk of the year to lead off the inning. McCarthy sacrificed Bourque to second base. Parker stepped to the plate and hit his second homerun of the year. For the second inning in a row, the Cajuns runs came courtesy of a homerun.
In the fourth inning, the Indians added a run. With two outs and the bases empty, Arkansas State's Josh Allison hit his first homerun of the season. The homer hit the top of the 16-foot fence in right field.
Lucroy came through for the Cajuns again in the fourth inning. McCarthy singled up the middle and advanced to third base on a single by Parker. With two outs, Lucroy stepped to the plate and hit his second double of the day. The double was off of the left centerfield fence, just a couple of feet short of going over. Both runners scored giving the sophomore six RBI in the game.
The Indians closed the gap in the fifth and sixth innings. With one runner on in the fifth, Kevin Kull, Jr. hit a two-run homerun to cut the UL lead to 8-6. In the next inning, ASU's Todd Boucher hit a solo homer to lead off the inning. The Cajuns brought in relief pitcher Danny Farquhar into the game to work out of the jam.
The Ragin' Cajuns survived a scare in the top of the seventh inning. After striking out the first batter, the Indians laced a double down the leftfield line. The Cajuns recorded the second out of the inning with a shallow fly ball that Bourque raced out to get. A four-pitch walk gave ASU a pair of runners with two outs. Farquhar walked the next batter to load the bases for Arkansas State, but struck out the next batter on three straight pitches to end the inning and the threat.
The Ragin' Cajuns held the Indians scoreless for the final three innings to secure the win. The Cajuns will square off against Middle Tennessee in the second round of the tournament at 4 p.m.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
