University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Southeastern Louisiana
Cajuns Nearly Recover From Early Deficit
3/10/2011 3:00:00 AM | Baseball
Five unearned runs allowed by Louisiana in the middle innings cost the squad in a defeat on Wednesday against Southeastern Louisiana at Alumni Field in Hammond as the Lions posted a 7-5 victory.
The Cajuns found out how costly the unearned runs would become in the sixth inning when a bases loaded single up the middle by Jordan Poirrier scored two runs upping the squad's run total to three runs.
The Cajuns bullpen was fantastic once again, holding SLU without a run and just three hits over the host's final 3 1/3 innings which would have been sufficient to lock down a lead.
Instead, as a result of the unearned runs, the Cajuns (7-5) found themselves on the losing end for the sixth consecutive time against SLU (9-4).
Poirrier's base hit would have given Louisiana a 3-2 lead. The significance of the unearned runs increased in the seventh inning when a bases loaded single by Mike Petello upped the Cajuns run total to five.
Louisiana now heads to San Francisco for the Cal Baseball Classic at AT&T Park. The Cajuns will open the tournament, being held at the home of the 2010 World Champions San Francisco Giants, on Friday with a game against No. 20 Cal (7-4) at 9 p.m. (CT).
An error on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Sinclair in the fourth inning opened the door for the first two unearned runs increasing the Lions lead to 4-1.
Two errors in the fifth inning caused the Cajuns big deficit that they just couldn't quite climb all the way out of. It started when Petello dropped a fly ball in right field allowing Cass Hargis to reach second base.
After a sacrifice bunt, a pop up in the infield by Justin Boudreaux would have been the third out. However, the inning was still alive and a Josh Cryer double, Poirrier error and Britt Gautreaux RBI single pushed across three more unearned runs and SLU led 7-1.
Louisiana's comeback fell short as the squad couldn't get a hit with the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning.
Joe Zimmermann was charged with the loss for the Cajuns as he was responsible for all seven runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.
Blake Wascom pitched 1 1/3 innings and Matt Hicks two complete innings out of the bullpen to keep the Cajuns comeback chances alive.
UL's pitching allowed five runs or more for only the third time in 12 games this season.
Jordan Hymel posted the win for SLU tossing 5 1/3 innings and allowing three runs on four hits. Stefan Lopez tossed the ninth inning to collect his third save of the season.
The teams swapped home runs in the opening frame. SLU's was a two-run job and thus the hosts held a 2-1 lead after one inning of play.
Fuselier provided the Cajuns home run and the Lions' homer was courtesy Jeff Harkensee down the right field line just inside the foul pole.
That's where the score stood until the Cajuns error in the fourth inning helped the Lions extend their lead.
BASES NOTED: Wednesday's game marked the 100th meeting all-time between the two schools in baseball...UL leads the all-time series 57-43, overall, and is 13-8 vs. SLU in the Tony Robichaux Era...The two teams meet again on April 26 at "The Tigue"...The Cajuns wore black jerseys in order to keep uniforms packed and ready for an early morning trip Houston to catch the flight to San Francisco...Since there was not a No. 22 in the black jersey, Mike Petello wore No. 43...UL sent out a new outfield alignment as Matt Goulas shifted from left field, Alex Fuselier switched to center field and Mike Petello started in right field...Goulas who played left field as a freshman in 2008, also had starts in left field in 2009 and 2010...Chris Sinclair was credited with a caught stealing in the second inning when Greg Fontenot dropped the throw on a steal attempt by Britt Gautreaux and opponents fell to 0-for-5 on Sinclair...The Lions got two stolen bases on Sinclair in the fourth inning courtesy Brock Hebert...The five unearned runs allowed by UL increased the season total of unearned runs allowed to 14...Alex Fuselier's home run in the first inning marked the fourth straight game the Cajuns have had at least one home run...The loss marked the Cajuns sixth consecutive to SLU...UL hasn't defeated SLU since March 2008.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
