University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Northwestern State
Ragin' Cajuns Fall to Northwestern State, 7-2
5/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NATCHITOCHES, La.-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns baseball team dropped their final midweek road contest by the score of 7-2 to the Northwestern State Demons.
The seven runs marked the seventh time this season that the Cajuns allowed five or more runs in a midweek game. UL dropped to 1-6 in 2006 when a midweek opponent hit the five run plateau.
The Cajuns collected only eight hits as a team. The hits were the lowest number of hits by the Ragin' Cajuns offense since Sunday, April 16 against New Orleans.
Grant Derouen and Matt Hicks paced the Cajuns. The hitters were the only two UL players to collect multiple hits. Derouen had three hits on the evening while Hick had two hits.
The Cajuns threw six pitchers on the night. They allowed seven run on 14 hits on the night. The pitching staff struck out six batters and walked three.
Senior Brandt Sanders took the loss for the Cajuns tossing 3.0 innings. He scattered three hits and allowed one run in the loss.
Sanders took the mound for the Cajuns in his first start of the season. The southpaw surrendered a one-out single but would not allow the runner to go any further. Sanders struck out the next Demon's batter and induced a groundout to end the inning.
With just one inning out of the way, the Cajuns and Demons suffered a weather delay. Lightening touched ground in the area prompting the stoppage of play.
The two teams took the field after a 31-minute delay of play. The Cajuns went down in order and following Sanders' warm up tosses, another flash of lightening halted the game once again.
After the 11-minute weather delay, the Cajuns hit the field. Sanders surrendered a leadoff single. The runner stole second to give the Demons their first runner of the night in scoring position. The NSU runner came around to score on an RBI double by Northwestern State. Sanders hit the next batter with a pitch to give the Demons a pair of runners, but managed to get out of the inning without any further damage.
The Demons threatened in the bottom of the third inning. Sanders walked the lead off batter. The Cajuns attempted to pick off the runner, but an errant throw by the UL first baseman allowed the runner to advance to second base. Sanders walked the next batter to give Northwestern State a pair of base runners. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position, but they would go no further. Sanders induced a foul out to Jefferies Tatford who started the game in left field. Sanders got out of the inning with a deep fly ball to right field for the last out.
In the fourth inning, the Cajuns went to their bullpen. Tim Beasley entered the game in relief of Sanders. He retired the first two batters he faced, but then gave up three consecutive base hits including a double to plate two batters. Beasley escaped the inning without allowing any more runs, but the Cajuns trailed 3-0 after four complete innings.
In the fifth inning, the Ragin' Cajuns collected their first base runner of evening. With two outs in the inning, Derouen dropped a ball in between the right fielder and the second baseman to give UL their first base runner of the night.
The Ragin' Cajuns cut the lead in the sixth inning. Matt Casbon led off the inning with a single to left field. The next two Cajuns batters struck out, but Hicks extended the inning with a single through the left side of the infield. Tim Santiago entered the game as a pinch hitter. Santiago reached base on a fielding error by the Demon's third baseman. Alex Preciado stepped to the plate for the first time on the night after entering the game to play left field. He drew a walk to plate Casbon and cut the NSU lead to 3-1.
The Demons got the run back in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Beasley hit the leadoff batter to give Northwestern State a base runner. The runner moved to second base on a single. Jonathan Cottrell entered the game to pitch. He recorded the first out as the batter sacrificed himself to move the runners into scoring position. An infield single to the shortstop plated the lead runner. A pop up and a strikeout ended the inning as saw the Cajuns trailing 4-1 after six complete.
Northwestern State extended their lead in the seventh inning. Three hits and a fielder's choice allowed a run to score and increased the lead to 5-1.
In the eighth inning, NSU's Brandon Morgan hit a solo homerun over the leftfield fence. The pair of homeruns increased the Demon's lead to six runs with just one inning left to play.
The Cajuns added a run in the bottom of the ninth, but their comeback efforts fell short as they dropped the decision 7-2.
The Cajuns return to action this weekend at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field. The Ragin' Cajuns will take on Troy in a crucial Sun Belt Conference match up. UL currently trail the Trojans by one game in the Belt standings. The Cajuns and Trojans will begin the series on Friday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. The two teams will continue the series on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. UL and Troy will conclude the three-game series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
