Defense Falters Again In Loss To ECU

GREENVILLE, N.C. ? The Ragin' Cajuns defense posted four errors for the second straight game, accounting for all three ECU runs in a 3-1 defeat Saturday at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Cajuns fall to 21-24-1 with the loss.

Chad Keefer highlighted the Cajuns' offense with a 2-for-4 outing, driving in one on two doubles. Kyle Bostick went 2-for-3 as the only other Cajun with multiple hits in the team's seven-hit effort. Keefer drove in Louisiana's only run in the first inning, and the offense went quiet for the rest of the game.

Keefer, Greg Fontenot, Kyle Olasin and Thad Griffen all posted errors, three of which were costly. The gaffes marred otherwise strong performances from starting pitcher Justin Robichaux and reliever Luke Wagley.

Robichaux (1-2), saddled with the hard-luck loss, got into but worked out of multiple tight spots through his first four innings. In those frames, he gave up just three hits. In the fifth, the defense faltered with two errors that allowed two runs to score and another in the sixth let a third run across. For the game, Robichaux pitched six innings, allowing three runs, none earned, on three walks and two strikeouts.

Luke Wagley pitched the seventh and eighth innings in strong relief, allowing no runs on just two hits while tallying three strikeouts.

The Cajuns opened scoring this time around with a Chad Keefer RBI double in the top of the first. Alex Fuselier scored from second on the play to give Louisiana a 1-0 lead.

The next scoring would come from the Pirates in the fifth, thanks to two errors on the Cajuns defense. With two outs and a runner on first, third baseman Chad Keefer came up empty on a grounder to extend the inning. In the next at bat, ECU's Kyle Roller hit a single which drove in one run, and Thad Griffen threw the ball into the outfield in the ensuing action to allow another to score. Robichaux ended the inning by inducing a flyout, but only after the Pirates had taken a 2-1 lead.

In the sixth, Pirates shortstop Dustin Harrington reached and went to second on a dropped fly ball by Kyle Olasin in centerfield. Catcher Jared Avchen singled him in with a chopper over the head of Keefer to make it a 3-1 game.

One more game remains in the series, scheduled for Sunday, May 3, at 11 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. CT. The game was originally scheduled for Noon ET but moved forward due to forecasts of inclement weather. Listen in on SportsRadio ESPN 1420 AM and ESPN1420.com, and track live statistics on RaginCajuns.com.

NOTES

· Kyle Olasin laid down a sacrifice bunt in the first inning, helping Alex Fuselier to score later in the inning. The sac was Olasin's fifth of the season and the team's 46th. According to the latest release, the Cajuns are 14th in the nation in sacrifice bunts.

· The Cajuns have now posted at least one extra-base hit in 32 of the last 33 games.

LINE SCORE

East Carolina 3, Louisiana 1 (May 02, 2009 at Greenville, N.C.)

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Louisiana........... 100 000 000  -  1  7  4      (21-24-1)

East Carolina....... 000 021 00X  -  3  8  1      (34-14)

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Pitchers: Louisiana - Robichaux, Justin; Wagley, Luke(7). East Carolina - Maness; Brandt(8);

Simmons(8).

Win-Maness(7-0)  Save-Simmons(8)  Loss-Robichaux, Justin(1-2)  T-2:29  A-3021

Weather: 80F; Wind: 9 mph in from right

Brandt faced 1 batter in the 8th.

-www.RaginCajuns.com-

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