University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
South Alabama
Cajuns Open Conference with 7-2 Win
3/9/2007 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
Cajuns Open Conference Season with 7-2 Win
The Ragin' Cajuns used solid pitching and double-digit hits to claim their first Sun Belt win of the season.
LAFAYETTE-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns rebounded from their two-game skid with a
7-2 victory over South Alabama on Friday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
The game was the first Sun Belt Conference game of the season for both teams.
The Cajuns collected double-digit hits for the first time since they collected 14 hits against Northwestern State on Feb. 28.
Eight Cajuns' batters collected hits including Devon Bourque and Devery Van De Keere who both amassed multiple hits in the game.
Scott Hawkins entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning to pitch hit, but made the at bat count as he lifted a pitch over the left field wall, over the Cajuns' old scoreboard. The homerun was his team-leading third of the season.
Four different Cajuns drove in runs in the game with Xavier Alexander leading the way with two RBI. Tim Santiago lead all Ragin' Cajuns with two runs scored.
Buddy Glass (4-1) was solid on the mound for UL. The junior hurler tossed
7.1 innings. He scattered five hits, surrendering two runs. Glass fanned a season-high seven batters, while walking just one.
Danny Farquhar entered the game in the eighth inning. He recorded three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work.
The Jaguars were the first team to scratch the scoreboard. In the top of the second inning, USA's Jeff Cunningham lifted a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall for the first run of the game. It was Cunningham's sixth homerun of the season and third in his last two games against the Cajuns. He homered twice in UL's 8-5 victory over South Alabama in the 2006 Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
The Cajuns answered in the bottom half of the second inning. Jefferies Tatford continued his hot play and led off the inning with a single to right field. A single by Tim Santiago gave the Cajuns a pair of runners at the corners. Kolin Hatfield hit a ground ball to second base that was mishandled by the Jaguars' defender. Tatford scored on the play, tying the score at 1- 1. With two runners on and no outs, Van De Keere singled to left centerfield to score the second run of the inning and give the Ragin' Cajuns the lead. A sacrifice bunt by Justin Robichaux moved both runners into scoring position.
A groundout by Bourque plated the third run of the inning. After two complete innings the Cajuns led 3-1.
The Cajuns added some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Santiago was hit by a pitch to give the Cajuns their first base runner of the inning. Following a strikeout, Van De Keere singled through the right side of the infield, giving the Cajuns runners on the corners.
Robichaux drew a base on balls to load them up for the Cajuns. An error by the Jaguars brought the first run across the plate. Xavier Alexander extended his team-leading hitting streak to 14 games with a single to right field. The single scored two runners and gave the Cajuns a 6-1 edge.
South Alabama cut into the Cajuns lead in the seventh inning. After surrendering a single to lead off the inning, the Cajuns recorded a fly ball for the first out and eliminated the lead runner with on a fielder's choice.
Following a stolen base, the next USA batter hit a 3-2 pitch up the middle to score the run.
The Cajuns got the run back in the top of the eighth inning. With one out, Scott Hawkins entered the game to pinch hit. He hit his team-leading third homerun of the season to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 7-2 lead, which would be the final score.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Jaguars will continue the series with a game scheduled for 2:05 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
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