MOBILE, Ala.-Jonathan Lucroy's first hit of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament was a memorable one as he hit a game-changing grand slam off SBC Pitcher of the Year to send the Ragin' Cajuns into Bracket Finals.
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The Cajuns' co-captain hit a grand slam home run in the sixth inning to highlight a five run inning and send Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns to a 9-7 win over Troy in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Mobile, Alabama.
Lucroy's blast to left center came off SBC Pitcher of the Year Josh Dew and rallied the Cajuns from a 6-4 deficit to an 8-6 lead. The home run capped a five run inning right after Troy had delivered a five spot to take the lead.
The top-seeded Cajuns (42-14) took an early 3-0 lead off Trojans starter Clegg Snipes in the first on a two out RBI double by Jefferies Tatford, a run scoring single by Scott Hawkins and an RBI single by Matt Casbon. Troy answered in the second on Shohei Fujita's single.
The score remained 3-1 until the fifth when fourth seeded Troy (34-24) countered with some two out magic of their own. With a runner on first and two out, Clint Robinson's double inside the third base bag scored the first run., Dew singled to put runners at the corners and Kevin Wiedlich's single tied the game off Cajuns starter Hunter Moody. Trevor Tyre singled to give the Trojans a 4-3 lead and end the night for Moody. Reliever Andrew Laughter came on and, after a passed ball, gave up a two run single to Bryan Miller to cap the five run uprising and give Troy a 6-3 lead.
Tim Wheeler relieved for Troy in the sixth and was greeted by Casbon's single to right. After William Long struck out, Devon Bourque delivered a single, and Josh Logan followed with another single to load the bases. That brought on Dew, who had seven wins and ten saves out of the bullpen for Troy in 2007. Matt Hicks greeted him with a run-scoring single before Lucroy unloaded his 16th homer of the season and 33rd of his career to clear the bases and give the Cajuns the lead they would not relinquish.
Louisiana added an insurance run in the eighth on a double by hicks, a wild pitch, and Tatford's RBI single.
Laughter (2-1) did the rest, shutting out the Trojans on two hits until the ninth, when Dew hit a two out homer for the final margin. Laughter struck out two and walked one in his 4.1 innings of relief, the longest outing of his Cajuns career. Dew's homer broke a string of 19.1 consecutive innings without an earned run allowed by Laughter.
Tatford led the Cajuns 15-hit attack with a 4-4 night with two runs batted in. Logan added three hits, while Hicks and Casbon had two hits apiece. Ian Craze, Tyre, Dew and Miller had two hits each for Troy..
The win sends the Cajuns to the bracket final tomorrow night in a game scheduled for 7:30pm. Troy will face #8 South Alabama in an elimination game at 12:30 with the winner facing the Cajuns tomorrow night.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
