University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
WKU
Baseball Snatches WKU Series Finale
5/10/2009 8:15:00 PM | Baseball
LAFAYETTE, La. ? The Ragin' Cajuns
stole the finale of a weekend series with WKU by a final score of 6-5, thanks
to one big inning and the lock-down relief of Michael Cook. Louisiana exploded
for five runs in the first inning and broke a 5-5 tie in the seventh to take
Game 3 over the Hilltoppers and end a six-game slide heading into the last week
of the regular season.
UL
is now 22-27-1 overall and 11-15 in Sun Belt competition. WKU falls to 37-13
overall and 21-6 in league action.
Michael Cook took over with two down in the second inning after a rough start for
freshman Matt Lackie, and stopped the Western Kentucky offense in its tracks.
After scoring twice in the first and second, Cook held them to six hits and one
run in 6 2/3 innings of work with three strikeouts to pick up the win and move
to 4-3 on the season.
Starter
Matt Lackie experienced some trouble in his first home start of the year. In 1
2/3 innings, he allowed four runs, all earned, on five hits and one walk before
giving way to Cook. Blake Haagen finished the game off, setting down both
batters he faced in the ninth inning, one on a strikeout, to earn the save and
secure the Cajuns' first win since April 28 versus McNeese State.
Louisiana
finally got the offense back on track, scoring six runs for the first time
since an April 25 win at Troy. Matt Goulas went 3-for-5 with two runs scored
and was joined in the multiple hits category by Will Long and Scott Hawkins.
Long went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Hawkins was 2-for-2 with
two intentional walks and a run scored.
Kyle Bostick added two RBIs in the first inning and went 1-for-3 on the day, while Les Smith had an RBI despite an 0-for-3 outing at the plate. Greg Fontenot rounded
out the RBI column with one on 1-for-3 hitting. Tyler Benzel finished off the
hit column with one in four at bats.
Defensively,
the Cajuns committed two errors but neither was costly, and Chad Keefer
displayed a strong arm behind the plate, extinguishing both Hilltopper stolen
base attempts.
Matt Lackie got off to a tough start with four straight balls, walking the first
hitter of the game. A triple brought the leadoff-man home, and a double scored
a second run to give WKU a quick 2-0 advantage.
The
Cajuns struck back in the bottom half of the inning, pushing five across the
plate on four hits and an error. After Alex Fuselier struck out to open the
game, Matt Goulas, Will Long and Scott Hawkins all singled to load the bases.
WKU shortstop Terrence Dayleg mishandled a Chad Keefer grounder to allow Goulas
to score and keep the bases loaded. Shaken, Hilltopper starting pitcher Shane
Cameron walked Smith to force a run home. Kyle Bostick then singled to score
Hawkins and Keefer before Greg Fontenot hit an RBI groundout to add the fifth
run of the frame. Tyler Benzel grounded out to second to end the inning, the
Cajuns ahead 5-2.
WKU
reduced the deficit to 5-4 with two runs in the second inning, with a leadoff
home run from designated hitter Casey Dykes, a double into right field off the
bat of second baseman Matt Payton, and an RBI single by centerfielder Jeremy
Coleman. Michael Cook took over and hit the first batter he faced, but then
settled in to keep the Toppers controlled until the seventh.
WKU
tied things up with a run in the seventh thanks to a leadoff double by first
baseman Jake Wells, who came around on singles from Payton and left fielder
Matt Hightower.
The
Ragin' Cajuns broke the tie in the bottom of the frame when Matt Goulas reached
and got to second on a dropped third strike and throwing error on WKU catcher
Matt Rice. From second, Goulas scored on a long double to right center courtesy
Will Long. That put UL ahead 6-5, and Cook and Haagen combined to keep the
score there to finish the game.
Louisiana
takes the field on Tuesday at Rice for a 6:30 p.m. game at Reckling Park, technically
the last midweek contest of the season, while ESPN 1420 AM takes to the
airwaves and to the internet at ESPN1420.com. Visit RaginCajuns.com for live,
in-game statistics.
NOTES
· The Cajuns' six runs
are the most since an April 25, 6-2 win at Troy.
· The Cajuns' five-run
first inning is the first five-run inning since an April 7, 6-3 win over Tulane
in which they scored five in the seventh inning.
· Scott Hawkins raised
his batting average 21 points this weekend, from .276 to start the series to
.297 leaving it. He went 6-for-10 with two walks and two RBIs and hit his 40th
career home run to take the all-time record on Saturday.
· The Ragin' Cajuns
drew 50,523 fans this year, an average of 2,105 over 24 home dates. That
average, compared to 2008's national attendance statistics, would qualify for 27th
in the nation among NCAA Division I schools.
LINE SCORE
Louisiana 6, WKU 5 (May 10, 2009 at Lafayette, La.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WKU................. 220 000 100 - 5 11 2 (37-13, 21-6)
Louisiana........... 500 000 10X - 6 10 1 (22-27-1, 11-15)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: WKU - Cameron, Shane; Paxton, Ben(5); Krueger, Garrie(6); Adcock, Chad(6);
Teague, Evan(7); Paxson, J.B.(7). Louisiana - Lackie, Matthew; Cook, Michael(2);
Haagen, Blake(9).
Win-Cook, Michael(4-3) Save-Haagen, Blake(3) Loss-Teague, Evan(4-3) T-2:58 A-1283
HR WKU - Dykes, Casey.
Weather: 83, p.cloudy, winds ssw 10
