University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Arkansas State
A-State Ace Handles Cajuns
3/6/2009 6:00:00 AM | Baseball
JONESBORO, Ark. ? Louisiana's Ragin'
Cajuns could not overcome a dominant outing from Arkansas State ace Chase Ware
in the Sun Belt Conference opener, getting shut out 2-0 and dropping to 4-6-1,
0-1 in conference play.
Louisiana's
hitters had a tough time dealing with Preseason All-Sun Belt selection Ware,
who earned the complete game shutout. Ware kept the Cajuns in check with just
four hits and retired 10 straight batters spanning the fifth, sixth, seventh
and eighth innings. He finished with nine strikeouts and four walks.
Scott Hawkins led the Cajuns with two hits in four at bats. Les Smith (1-3) and Kyle Olasin (1-3) picked up the Cajuns' only other base hits. All three stole bases
in each appearance on the paths, leaving Hawkins with a career high-tying two
on the night.
Cajuns'
starting pitcher Zach Osborne was the hard-luck recipient of the loss, giving 7
1/3 innings, the longest outing of any Cajuns' starting pitcher this season. He
allowed nine hits, two runs, both earned, on one walk and three strikeouts.
Blake Haagen relieved Osborne with one down in the eighth and retired two straight,
one on a strikeout, to end the inning.
Arkansas
State opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with a two-out single, the
back end of back-to-back hits, to bring a runner in from second.
Osborne
then kept the Red Wolves on a leash until the bottom of the fifth, when another
set of back-to-back hits scored a runner from second to give A-State a two-run
advantage.
The
Cajuns remain in Jonesboro for the middle game Saturday, with a first pitch
coming at 2 p.m. The series concludes with Sunday's 1 p.m. contest. Tune in to NewsRadio
105.1 KPEL-FM over the air or on the web at KPEL1051.com for the call live from
Tomlinson Stadium with Jay Walker, and track live statistics at RaginCajuns.com.
NOTES
· Kyle Olasin started
for the first time as a Cajun, batting in the ninth spot and playing in center
field. His initiation into full-time availability comes after offseason surgery
on his hand.
· Scott Hawkins, Kyle Olasin and Les Smith all registered stolen bases, making this the fourth straight
and seventh overall game in which the Cajuns have swiped multiple bags. Hawkins
tied a career high with two thefts, originally set on April 15, 2008, at Northwestern State.
· Both teams combined
for 4 double plays in the game, the Cajuns turning three and the Red Wolves
completing one.
· Zach Osborne's 7 1/3
inning outing is the longest from a Cajuns' pitcher this season as a starter or
in relief.
· The Cajuns had not
been shut out since May 24, 2008, by New Orleans in the Sun Belt Conference
Tournament by a score of 10-0. This also marks the first time the Cajuns have
been shut out on the road since April 22, 2008, when Lamar handed Louisiana a
3-0 blank.
LINE SCORE
Arkansas State 2, Louisiana 0 (Mar 06, 2009 at Jonesboro, Ark.)----------------------------------------------------------------------Louisiana........... 000 000 000 - 0 4 1 (4-6-1, 0-1)Arkansas State...... 010 010 00X - 2 9 0 (3-5, 1-0)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: Louisiana - Osborne, Zach; Haagen, Blake(8). Arkansas State - Ware, C..Win-Ware, C.(2-0) Loss-Osborne, Zach(0-2) T-2:20 A-573
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