University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Siena
Hubbell Shuts Down Siena in Series Finale
2/27/2011 7:45:00 PM | Baseball
Taylor Hubbell made a strong case for becoming the frontline starting pitcher for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns baseball team Sunday afternoon in the series finale with Siena at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
Hubbell, only five days removed from throwing 117 pitches in 8 2/3 innings of relief work against Nicholls State, threw a complete game shutout on 124 pitches Sunday against Siena to lead Louisiana (5-3) to a 1-0 victory capping off a series sweep of the Saints (0-6).
Only once was Hubbell threatened by Siena and when it came he calmly collected himself and worked out of trouble like a savvy veteran.
The Saints threatened to pull even, or possibly take the lead, loading the bases with no outs in the sixth inning. Hubbell struck out Larry Balkwill and Kyle Baldani for the first two outs and exited the inning by getting Vincent Citro to fly out to left field.
Hubbell then retired nine of the final 11 batters he faced to lock up the Cajuns first shutout victory of 2011.
The Ragin' Cajuns will be back in action on Tuesday, March 1 hosting Southern University in a midweek game at "The Tigue". First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Both starting pitchers got off to a solid start. Hubbell faced only one Siena batter over the minimum and Seian starter Zach Hartman retired the Cajuns in order over the first two innings.
Louisiana would pick up the only run they needed on a Ryan Leonards infield single to shortstop in the third inning. That scored Chris Sinclair who doubled earlier in the inning.
The complete game marked the longest start of Hubbell's career besting a seven-inning stint against Miami (Ohio) last season. He also became the first Cajuns starting pitcher to earn a victory this season.
Hartman suffered the hard-luck defeat for Siena allowing only one run on three hits over six innings.
With the win UL improved to 8-0 all-time against Siena. All meetings have occurred during the Tony Robichaux Era.
BASES NOTED: Taylor Hubbell made his third appearance of the season on the mound, getting his first start...It was Hubbell's eighth career start and first since getting the nod on June 6 vs. Rice in the NCAA Austin Regional... For the fifth time this week the Cajuns played a one-run game...UL improved to 4-1 in one-run contests...The game was played in exactly two hours and was the shortest game of the season thus far...Taylor Hubbell joins former teammate Zach Osborne as the last Cajuns to throw complete game shutouts...The Cajuns picked up their fifth consecutive win at "The Tigue"...Cajuns pitching posted a 2.25 ERA in the Siena series and allowed only three extra base hits in 28 innings...For the season, UL pitching has allowed only 23 earned runs over 72 2/3 innings of work...For the 40th consecutive game, dating back to April 6 last season, the Cajuns held the opposition to single digit runs...Cajuns pitching has held opponents to five runs or less in seven of eight games this season...Dating to the start of the 2010 season, UL has held the opposition to five runs or less in 51 of the last 68 games...The Cajuns defense fielded cleanly in the Siena series converting all 129 chances...UL has committed only four errors in 329 chances for a fielding percentage of .988.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
