University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Houston
Cajuns' Non-Conference Win Streak Ends
3/24/2009 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
HOUSTON ? Despite a
masterful relief appearance by Gregory Harmon and three RBIs from Chad Keefer,
the Cajuns could not overcome a 6-2 sixth inning deficit Tuesday night, losing to
the University of Houston Cougars by a final score of 6-4 and dropping back to
.500 overall at 10-10-1.
The
Ragin' Cajuns ended their four-game overall winning streak and their five-game
non-conference winning streak with the loss. The Cougars outhit Louisiana 11-7,
and the Cajuns could not convert on two errors by Houston.
Chad Keefer smashed his second home run in as many games with a two-run blast over
the left field wall in the top of the second, and finished as the Cajuns'
offensive leader with a 2-for-4 night with three RBIs. Scott Hawkins was the
only other Cajun with an RBI, going 1-for-4 on the night.
Matt Broussard could not repeat last week's dominant performance, succumbing to
seven Cougar hits to allow three runs in 2 1/3 innings of work. He was relieved
by Blake Haagen in the third. He ended the inning and threw the fourth, giving
way to Blake Wascom in the fifth after giving up two hits for one run with a
strikeout in 1 2/3 innings.
Wascom
did not fare much better. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk, while
striking out one in one inning on the mound. Wascom left for Gregory Harmon
after the fifth. Harmon set the Cougars down in order in the sixth, seventh and
eighth innings.
After
quickly retiring the first two batters, Matt Broussard allowed the Cougars to
load the bases. They attempted to bunt the run in, but Broussard gathered the
ball and fired to first to end the side.
With
two down in the top of the second, Thad Griffen doubled his way aboard and Chad Keefer drove a ball over the left field wall for his second home run in as many
games, giving the Cajuns an early 2-0 lead.
Houston
took the first run off Broussard in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice
fly. They added two to go ahead in the bottom of the third, when Chase Dempsay
doubled and went to third on a balk, before Caleb Ramsey drove him in with a
single to left. Broussard left the game in favor of Blake Haagen, who gave up a
sacrifice fly to allow one of Broussard's runners to cross to give Houston the
3-2 edge.
In
the bottom of the fourth, Haagen allowed back-to-back doubles, bringing one run
across. Blake Wascom replaced him to start the fifth, and retired one batter on
a strikeout before allowing a single, a walk, and a two-run double to push the Cougar
lead to 6-2.
The
Cajuns earned two back in the top of the sixth, starting with a leadoff single
from Travis Whipple, who scored on a Scott Hawkins single through the left
side. Then with Hawkins at first and Matt Goulas at third, Chad Keefer struck
for his third RBI of the game with a single to center field to score Goulas.
The
Ragin' Cajuns play their fourth Sun Belt Conference series this weekend in
Miami, Fla., against the Florida International Golden Panthers. Track live
statistics on RaginCajuns.com, and be sure to listen in to the radio broadcast
with Jay Walker on SportsRadio ESPN 1420 locally in Lafayette or from anywhere
in the world on ESPN1420.com.
NOTES
· The loss ends a
four-game overall win streak and a five-game non-conference win streak. The Cajuns
are now 4-2 in midweek games.
LINE SCORE
Houston 6, Louisiana 4 (Mar 24, 2009 at Houston, Texas)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Louisiana........... 020 002 000 - 4 7 0 (10-10-1)
Houston............. 012 120 00X - 6 11 2 (7-16)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Louisiana - Broussard, Matt; Haagen, Blake(3); Wascom, Blake(5); Harmon, Gregory(6).
Houston - Mo Wiley; Chase Dempsay(6).
Win-Mo Wiley(1-1) Save-Chase Dempsay(2) Loss-Broussard, Matt(1-1) T-2:12 A-957
HR UL - Keefer, Chad (2).
Weather: 75 degrees, cloudy skies
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