University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Western Kentucky
Keefer's Slam Completes Cajuns Rally
5/16/2010 3:48:00 AM | Baseball
A Chad Keefer grand slam highlighted a five-run sixth inning which returned the lead to Louisiana (33-17, 17-9 Sun Belt).
Dayton Marze tossed 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to shut down the Hilltoppers (33-19, 14-12 Sun Belt) and help the Ragin' Cajuns even the weekend series.
Combined with South Alabama's loss at FIU, the Cajuns are now in sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt standings.
The series concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. Louisiana will honor its 2010 senior class prior to the announcement of starting lineups.
WKU grabbed an early lead getting a Matt Borgschulte sacrifice fly in the second inning to score the game's first run.
The Cajuns fought back with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to give starter T.J. Geith a 3-1 lead.
Geith had WKU under control through the first five innings, before giving up a one-out single and hitting a pair of batters in the sixth to load the bases with two outs. A two-RBI single from Kes Carter tied the game and Geith tossed a wild pitch which allowed Blake Crabtree to score for a 4-3 WKU lead.
Marze would relieve Geith and allowed an RBI single by Matt Payton for an additional WKU run before retiring the side.
The Cajuns took advantage of a one-out error by Crabtree in the bottom of the sixth to regain control of the game.
Crabtree's error allowed Justin Robichaux to reach base. Reliever Taylor Haydel issued a two-out walk to Kyle Olasin and Matt Goulas pushed a slow roller down the third-base line allowing Robichaux to score cutting the WKU lead to 5-4.
Bart Carter relieved Haydel, but he couldn't secure the third out as he issued a walk to Jordan Poirrier to reload the bases. Keefer made Carter pay as he launched a grand slam home run over the left field wall for an 8-5 advantage.
Marze posted scoreless frames the final three innings and the Ragin' Cajuns tacked on two-spots in the seventh and eighth for breathing room.
Keefer finished 3-for-5 with five RBI. Robichaux was the other Cajuns offensive star with a 3-for-5 showing and three RBI out of the eight-spot in the batting order.
Six different Hilltoppers posted two base hits, but of the squad's 14 base hits only two went for extra bases.
BASES NOTED: Louisiana is now in position to claim a series victory for the sixth consecutive weekend...UL improved to 22-7 at "The Tigue" vs. Western Kentucky...Louisiana leads the all-time series 37-21...Chad Keefer collected his 18th multiple-hit game and 14th multiple-RBI game...It was Keefer's first five RBI game of the season and his Cajuns career...Keefer now leads Louisiana with 12 home runs and 50 RBI...The grand slam was Keefer's 11th home run in Sun Belt play...The Cajuns posted their 12th double-figure run game of the season and improved to 11-1 in such performances...Louisiana picked up its 17th Sun Belt win of the season, the most league wins since tallying 23 in 2007.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
