University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Northwestern State
Back In Win Column: Cajuns Down Demons
4/1/2009 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
LAFAYETTE ? The Ragin' Cajuns
got back into winning ways on the diamond, taking an 11-5 decision over the
Northwestern State Demons Wednesday night at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field. Luke Wagley threw five innings to pick up the win on the strength of his career-high eight
strikeouts versus just four hits.
Wagley
led the Cajuns back to a .500 record overall, at 12-12-1 so far in 2009. Matt Broussard started the game and lasted just 1 1/3 innings, allowing three hits
to score four runs, though only one was earned.
Other
Cajuns to take the mound included Blake Haagen (2/3 inning) and Gregory Harmon
(1 inn), who each gave up one hit and no runs, and Justin Robichaux, who threw
a perfect ninth inning.
On
the flipside, the Demons used 10 pitchers in the game, five allowing runs to
score.
Chad Keefer paced the Cajuns' lineup with three RBIs on a 3-for-4 outing, including
a sacrifice fly. Scott Hawkins was 2-for-3 on the night with two RBIs, but will
have to wait at least until Friday to try for the team's all-time career home
run record again.
Travis Whipple (1-for-5) and Alex Fuselier (1-3, double) each drove in a run, while
Kyle Olasin and Greg Fontenot each did their best to keep the bases occupied
with 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 outings respectively. Olasin extended his team-long
hitting streak to nine games.
Louisiana
was the first to scratch the scoreboard, doing so in the bottom of the first
inning. Back-to-back singles, delivered by Scott Hawkins and Travis Whipple,
plated Matt Goulas who reached base on a one-out walk. Chad Keefer followed with
a sacrifice fly to score Hawkins and make it 2-0.
NSU
got Broussard into trouble in the second inning as the Demons loaded the bases
with no outs following a single, double and hit by pitch. Broussard struck out
Dominic Gamboa for the first out, but hit Tyler Baisley to force home the first
NSU run.
Broussard
was relieved by Blake Haagen. A failed pickoff attempt at second base scored Beau
Snodgrass to even the score at 2-all. A Jordan Nipp sacrifice fly moved the
Demons in front, 3-2.
Trailing
4-2, UL took advantage of an NSU error in its half of the second to draw back
into a tie. Kyle Olasin laid down a sacrifice bunt with runners on first and
second. The throw got away from Justin O'Neal at first base allowing Greg Fontenot to score UL's third run of the evening.
The
Ragin' Cajuns tied the score on a grounder to short by Goulas.
Luke Wagley came in relief for the Cajuns and retired six of the first seven batters
that he faced. Demons' relievers Michael Ocampo and Carlos Maese matched
Wagley's efforts.
A
two-out RBI single by Snodgrass in the top of the fifth allowed the Demons to
scratch their first run off of Wagley and take a 5-4 edge. Louisiana drew even
in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of two NSU errors and a wild
pitch.
Alex Fuselier advanced to third base on the wild pitch and Fontenot walked. After a
pitching change, Broughton caught Fontenot leaning off first base. Before he
was picked off, Fuselier managed to score giving Louisiana a 6-5 advantage.
UL
broke the game open with a five-spot in the sixth inning. Hawkins and Keefer
each delivered two-RBI singles. From then on, both lineups were quiet.
Louisiana
now turns its attention to a Sun Belt Conference series with conference-leader
Middle Tennessee this weekend at “Tigue” Moore Field. The series runs Friday-Sunday,
April 3-5 and commences with the opener at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Saturday's game
will begin at 2 p.m., and will be televised on MyKLAF. The series wraps up
Sunday with a 1 p.m., first pitch.
· Scott Hawkins did not
move any closer to the all-time career home run record in the game. He went
2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, and was intentionally walked in his last at
bat in the seventh inning.
· Kyle Olasin extended
his hitting streak to nine games, the longest of any streak thus far.
LINE SCORE
Louisiana 11, Northwestern State 5 (Apr 01, 2009 at Lafayette, La.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Northwestern State.. 040 010 000 - 5 9 3 (12-12)
Louisiana........... 220 025 00X - 11 12 1 (12-12-1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Northwestern State - Bear, C.; Rodriguez, B(2); Ocampo, M.(3); Maese, C.(4);
Fredieu, B.(5); Broughton, K(5); Plotkin, A.(6); Cooper, C.(6); Lott, DD(7); Geist, T.(8).
Louisiana - Broussard, Matt; Haagen, Blake(2); Wagley, Luke(3); Harmon, Gregory(8);
Robichaux, Justin(9).
Win-Wagley, Luke(2-2) Loss-Fredieu, B.(0-1) T-3:01 A-2082
Weather: 66 degrees, cloudy, calm winds
