Cajuns Start Final Weekend With Win

NEW ORLEANS ? Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns made a large stride toward securing a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 10-4 win over rival UNO at Maestri Field on Friday night. The Cajuns now need just one more win in this final regular season series to guarantee themselves a spot in the conference tournament.

After falling behind by a 2-1 margin through just one inning of play, all facets of the Cajuns' game came together as the offense produced three runs in the second and five runs in the ninth. The defense was error-free the entire game, and a strong start from Zach Osborne and scoreless relief courtesy Blake Haagen cemented the win.

UL benefitted from three big hits in the game, starting with Alex Fuselier's first collegiate home run in the second inning. He plated three runs as part of a 1-for-2 night. Kyle Olasin drove in three with a pinch-hit, bases-clearing double in the ninth inning to finish a perfect 1-for-1. Matt Goulas was the offensive headliner, finishing 3-for-6 with three RBIs and two runs scored, thanks in large part to a two-run home run in the at bat immediately following Olasin's double.

Les Smith scored three times, once for each appearance on base as he went 3-for-5 on the night. Tyler Benzel was 1-for-2 with two runs scored, and Kyle Bostick and Greg Fontenot were 2-for-5 in the game.

In total, the Cajuns registered 14 hits, their most since hitting 14 against Middle Tennessee on April 5 in a 14-7 win.

Zach Osborne, Louisiana's starting pitcher, threw six innings to get the win and move to 4-3 on the season. He gave up four runs, all earned, on 10 hits and 11 strikeouts, both representing season and Division I career highs for Osborne.

Blake Haagen earned his team-best fourth save of the year in a three-inning relief appearance. He kept the Privateers quiet on just two hits, one walk and three strikeouts to secure the victory and bolster the Cajuns' efforts to earn a berth in the conference tournament.

Matt Goulas reached with a leadoff double to start the game, then scored after the catcher threw the ball away trying to catch him stealing third.

Zach Osborne allowed two runs in the bottom of the first to allow the Privateers to go up 2-1. Jay Morris and Nick Schwaner both hit RBI singles to provide the runs.

Alex Fuselier smashed his first collegiate home run in the top of the second, driving a three-run long ball over the right-center wall with Les Smith at third thanks to his triple and Tyler Benzel on first, putting the Ragin' Cajuns up 4-2.

The Cajuns added one run in the sixth on a tough groundball to the first baseman off the bat of Matt Goulas to score Les Smith from second. The ball hopped once and spun away from UNO first baseman Jerad Comarda to allow the Cajuns the run.

Osborne ran into trouble for the first time since the first inning when he allowed four consecutive two-out singles to score two runs in the sixth. UNO's two runs brought them back to a one-run deficit at 5-4.

UL added plenty of insurance in the top of the ninth, giving Haagen a six-run pad to finish the game. With the bases loaded and two down, Kyle Olasin drove a double into the left-center gap and cleared the bases, scoring Tyler Benzel, Les Smith and Greg Fontenot. In the next at bat, Goulas hit a two-run home run off the scoreboard in left field to make it 10-4.

The series continues Friday at 3 p.m. SportsRadio ESPN 1420 AM has the broadcast both over the air and at ESPN1420.com, and RaginCajuns.com will provide live video as well as live statistics.

NOTES

· The Cajuns 14 hits represents the most since a 14-7 win over Middle Tennessee in Lafayette on April 5.

· Zach Osborne allowed no walks in six innings. He has thrown just 11 walks this year in 74 2/3 innings, a mark of just 1.33 walks per nine innings. At last check (May 10), Osborne was ranked 33^rd in the nation in BB/9 at 1.44.

· Louisiana is now tied with South Alabama for fifth in the conference. The Cajuns still need to win one more game to guarantee a spot in the conference tournament. South Alabama FAU defeated FIU 9-5 and South Alabama beat Troy 6-5 to keep the race heated and require the Cajuns to continue winning.

LINE SCORE

Louisiana 10, New Orleans 4 (May 14, 2009 at New Orleans, La.)

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Louisiana........... 130 001 005  - 10 14  0      (23-28-1, 12-15 Sun Belt)

New Orleans......... 200 002 000  -  4 12  3      (22-31, 12-16 Sun Belt)

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Pitchers: Louisiana - Osborne, Zach; Haagen, Blake(7). New Orleans - Ott, R.; DeGrouttola(4);

Sanders, T.(6); Mattson, M.(7); Brown, M.(9).

Win-Osborne, Zach(4-3)  Save-Haagen, Blake(4)  Loss-Ott, R.(1-4)  T-3:17  A-260

HR UL - Goulas, Matt (4); Fuselier, Alex (1).

-www.RaginCajuns.com-

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