WKU Halts Cajuns' Momentum, 11-4

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ? Five walks allowed by Louisiana pitchers were responsible for nearly half of Western Kentucky's offensive production, while Matt Ridings held Ragin' Cajuns to four hits for an 11-4 Hilltoppers victory Saturday at Nick Denes Field.

Louisiana (25-26, 13-13 Sun Belt) fell into a sixth-place tie with WKU (26-23, 13-13 Sun Belt), while the Toppers denied the Cajuns in their first opportunity to win the SBC series. A victory by Louisiana on Sunday would result in the Cajuns' first SBC series win at WKU since 2001.

Western Kentucky hurler Matt Ridings kept Louisiana's offense quiet for nearly eight innings. Ridings (9-2) allowed three runs on four hits ? two of the four were home runs ? with nine strikeouts.

Despite a career-high six strikeouts, freshman Michael Cook (Lafayette, La.) was shelled for six runs ? five earned ? on six hits in five innings. Cook (5-4) walked three batters ? all of which came around to score. Blake Haagen (Athens, Ga.) allowed two runs on one hit ? a two-run homer ? in two innings of relief. John Zorich (Stafford, Va.) faced six batters in the eighth, allowing three runs on two hits with one walk.

Five different Cajuns recorded a hit, including three with a home run. Scott Hawkins (Collierville, Tenn.) hit a two-run blast, while Matt Goulas (New Iberia, La.) and Josh Logan (Magee, Miss.) each hit a solo shot.

WKU retired the Cajuns side in the top of the first and took an early 1-0 lead in the home half of the inning. With one out, Matt Hightower, WKU's losing pitcher of record Friday night, ripped a double down the left field line. Two batters later, Chad Cregar hit a hard infield RBI single to second baseman Matt Hicks (Houston, Texas) for a 1-0 lead.

The Toppers added a run in the second for a 2-0 lead. A fielding error on a potential double-play ball by Hicks extended the inning for WKU which allowed the Toppers to score on a Matt Rice RBI sacrifice fly.

Louisiana broke its hitless spell in the third when Goulas crushed a towering solo home run over the fence into the WKU bullpen in left field. Goulas' second homer of the week cut the deficit in half, 2-1.

WKU hung a crooked number on the scoreboard in the fourth as three Toppers crossed the plate for a 5-1 advantage. Cook continued to have problems hitting his spots allowing two free passes in the inning. Those two walks would hurt the Cajuns later in the inning. A RBI sacrifice fly by Jeremy Coleman gave the Tops a 3-1 lead before Rice crushed a bases-clearing two-run home run for the 5-1 count.

Ridings retired 11 straight Cajuns batters until Justin Robichaux (Crowley, La.) tapped a one-out, seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield in the seventh. But, Ridings sat down the next two Cajuns to end the inning.

The final seven runs of the contest were decided via the long ball. Terrence Dayleg added to Western's lead in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run home run off Haagen for an 8-1 edge.

An opposite-field two-run home run to right field by Hawkins in the eighth brought the Cajuns to within five, 8-3. WKU extended its lead to eight, 11-3, thanks to a three-run insurance home run by Matt Hightower in the bottom of the eighth.

A second opposite-field home run came from the Cajuns in the ninth. Logan lifted a solo home run to right for the final 11-4 count.

Louisiana and Western Kentucky will battle in the third and final game of the Sun Belt Conference series when the two teams square off Sunday at 12 p.m.

Western Kentucky 11, Louisiana-Lafayette 4 (May 10, 2008 at Bowling Green, Ky.)

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Louisiana-Lafayette. 001 000 021 - 4 5 1 (25-26, 13-13 SUN BELT)

Western Kentucky.... 110 301 23X - 11 9 0 (26-23, 13-13 SUN BELT)

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Pitchers: Louisiana-Lafayette - Cook, Michael; Haagen, Blake(6); Zorich, John(8). Western Kentucky - Ridings, Matt; Jenney, Bryce(9).

Win-Ridings, Matt(9-2) Loss-Cook, Michael(5-4) T-2:27 A-787

HR UL - Goulas, Matt (3); Hawkins, Scott (11); Logan, Josh (4).

HR WKU - Hightower, Matt (5); Dayleg, Terrence (7); Coleman, Jeremy (1); Rice, Matt (3).

Cook, M faced 1 batter in the 6th.

-www.RaginCajuns.com-

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