University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Arkansas Little Rock
Farquhar, Hawkins Power Cajuns Past UALR
5/11/2007 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
LAFAYETTE-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns baseball team took one step closer to their second Sun Belt Conference championship in the last three years as they downed Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday night by a score of 13-3 at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.
The Ragin' Cajuns improved to 36-13 overall and 19-6 in Sun Belt play, while UALR fell to 20-27 and 8-16 in the conference.
The Cajuns got a career outing from starting pitcher Danny Farquhar (5-3). The sophomore from
Offensively, the Cajuns collected 16 hits, including seven extra base hits. UL mustered three homeruns, a triple and three doubles. Four different Cajuns batters collected three hits apiece.
Scott Hawkins finished the night 3-for-4 with a pair of homers. The multi-homerun night was the first for the sophomore in his career. Hawkins drove in three runs, while scoring three runs.
Matt Hicks collected three hits in five plate appearances for the Cajuns. The sophomore hit his sixth homerun of the season while adding his first career triple. Hicks finished the night with three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
Jonathan Lucroy was a perfect 3-for-3 on the night with a run scored, a sacrifice fly and a walk.
Rounding out the multi-hit game for the Cajuns was Matt Casbon. The senior from
Arkansas-Little Rock was the first to scratch the scoreboard in the first inning. The leadoff batter worked the count full before drawing a free pass. Farquhar struck out the next two batters, but proceeded to hit the next two batters with pitches to load the bases. UALR got an RBI single to centerfield to score the first run of the game. Farquhar struck out the next batter to end the top half of the inning, but the Cajuns trailed 1-0.
The Cajuns answered in the bottom of the second. Hawkins started the inning off with a solo homerun to left field. The homer was his team-leading 14th of the season. The run would be the only run the Cajuns would get, but it tied the score at one apiece.
UL added a run in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Hicks hit his sixth homerun of the season to give the Cajuns a 2-1 edge.
In the sixth inning, the Trojans tied the score at 2-2. A leadoff double started the inning off for UALR. A one out single scored the runner and knotted the score.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Lucroy led off the inning with a walk. He was erased on a fielder's choice. Hawkins walked to give UL a pair of baserunners. A double to right centerfield by Kolin Hatfield plated the first run of the inning. Casbon followed with an RBI single through the left side of the infield. Hatfield advanced to third on the play and came around to score on a fielding error by UALR. Three runs would be all the Cajuns would get in the inning, but after six full innings of play, UL led 5-2.
The Cajuns extended their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning with three more runs. With two outs, Lucroy singled up the middle of the infield. Jefferies Tatford followed with an RBI double down the right field line. Hawkins stepped to the plate and swung at the first pitch he saw. The sophomore crushed his second homerun of the night putting the Cajuns on top 8-2.
The runs kept coming in the bottom of the eighth. Casbon led off the inning with a double to left centerfield. A William Long single gave the Cajuns runners at the corners. Josh Logan plated the first run of the inning with an RBI single, and Hicks cleared the bases with his first career triple. Devon Bourque continued the inning with his team-leading 39th walk of the season. A sacrifice fly by Lucroy plated Hicks from third. The Cajuns scored another run as Hatfield reached on a fielding error and on the same play, Tatford scored on a throwing error. The Ragin' Cajuns finished the inning with five runs on five hits and two errors to take a 13-2 lead.
Arkansas-Little Rock would get one run back in the ninth inning. With one out, UALR got a single up the middle. The runner stole second base to move into scoring position and a groundout moved the runner to third. A double scored the runner, but Matt Pilgreen struck out the final batter of the game to seal the 13-3 final.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Trojans will play game two of the three-game Sun Belt Conference series on Saturday afternoon a
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