Cajuns Drop Game 1 to Sun Devils

TEMPE, Ariz.-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns opened a three-game non-conference weekend series with No. 9 Arizona State an 8-2 loss at Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.

The loss drops the Cajuns to 29-10, while the Sun Devils improve to 30-10.

Starting pitcher Buddy Glass (7-2) took the loss for the Cajuns. The junior right hander scattered nine hits in 5.0 innings of work. He surrendered five runs, all of which came with two outs. Glass issued just one walk, which led directly to three of Glass' runs. He struck out four batters and gave up just a pair of extra base hits.

Offensively, the Cajuns collected just eight hits on the night.

Jonathan Lucroy collected three of the hits as he went 3-for-4 on the night with a double and an RBI.

The only other player for UL with multiple hits was Nolan Gisclair who collected a pair of hits on the night for the Cajuns.

Matt Hicks collected just one hit on the night, but made it count. The sophomore third baseman belted his third homerun in as many games to lead off the Cajuns' sixth inning.

The Sun Devils were the first to scratch the scoreboard. Glass struck out the first batter of the inning and induced a groundball for the second out. With two outs and a 2-2 count, ASU's Eric Sogard drove a ball over the right field wall for a solo homerun. A diving stop by Justin Robichaux ended the inning, but saw the Cajuns trailing 1-0 after one complete inning of play.

The Cajuns answered in the top of the third inning. With one out, Devon Bourque drew a walk to become just the second UL batter to reach base to that point. A ground ball moved Bourque to second base. Jefferies Tatford worked the count full before he drew a free pass of his own. Lucroy doubled to right centerfield. Bourque scored easily from second base, but Tatford was thrown out at home plate trying to score from first. After two and a half innings of play, the Cajuns and Sun Devils were knotted at 1-1.

Arizona State put together some two-out magic in the bottom of the third to respond to the Cajuns. With two gone, ASU got a double from leadoff batter Tim Smith. Brett Wallace followed with a bloop single into left field to plate the runner. With a runner on first, Sogard lined a ball right to first base that went right past Robichaux to give the Sun Devils runners on the corners. Sogard stole second to put both ASU players in scoring position, but neither runner would go any further as a fly ball to left field ended the inning.

The Sun Devils plated three runners in the bottom of the fourth inning. With on out, Arizona State strung together three consecutive singles to load the bases. A shallow fly ball to right field recorded the second out of the inning. With a 2-2 count on next batter, Glass threw a pitch that appeared to hit the edge of the plate, but the home plate umpire did not agree. Glass threw the same pitch, but a little more over the plate, but it was once again called a ball. The walk plated the first run of the inning. The very next batter singled to centerfield scoring two runs. A ground out ended the inning, but the damage had been done and the Cajuns were on the wrong side of a 5-1 score.

The Ragin' Cajuns added a run in the top of the sixth inning. Hicks continued his hot play of late. He led off the inning with his third homerun of the season. For Hicks, the homer was his third in as many games. Hick's run would be the only run the Cajuns could muster in the inning, but after five and a half innings of play, UL trimmed the ASU lead to 5-2.

Arizona State added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. A walk and a single through the right side of the infield left runners on the corners for ASU. The Cajuns traded a run for outs as they turned a double play for the first two outs of the inning. The DP allowed the runner on third to score easily. A fly ball to centerfield ended the inning and saw the Sun Devils with a 6-2 edge after six complete.

In the bottom of the seventh, ASU added a pair of runs on a couple of hits and a ground ball.

The Ragin' Cajuns and Sun Devils will continue the three-game series on Saturday night as they meet at Packard Stadium at 8:00 p.m.

-Ragin' Cajuns-

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