University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Southern
UL Grabs Win Before Road Trip Begins
3/2/2011 3:00:00 AM | Baseball
Greg Fontenot and Jordan Bourque combined for seven hits to lead Louisiana's offensive outburst in a 10-4 victory over Southern on Tuesday evening at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
Jordan Poirrier launched his first home run of the season as part of a four-run outburst for the Cajuns in the second inning which created a comfortable lead for the rest of the game. Poirrier finished with a game-high four RBI.
Five Cajuns pitchers combined for nine innings led by starter Jordan Nicholson who scattered four hits over four innings in collecting the victory.
Louisiana (6-3) extended its win streak at "The Tigue" to six games and also stretched its active win streak over Southern to six games.
The Ragin' Cajuns now embark on an eight game road trip which begins with a three-game series at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss., this weekend. The USM series opener is Friday at 6 p.m.
Fontenot was 4-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI tallying his first four-hit game since May 2009 at UNO. Bourque posted his first multiple-hit game as a Cajun, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI.
Belfred Pryer, who surrendered six runs (four earned) on seven hits in five innings of work, was saddled with the loss for the Jaguars (3-5).
The 10 runs scored by the Cajuns marked a season high. UL pitching held Southern to four runs, marking the eighth time in nine games the pitching staff held the opposition below five runs.
A one-out error by the Cajuns opened the door for Southern to scratch an early run. After the error, Frazier Hall singled, Kyle Smith drew a walk to load the bases then a grounder from Wilmy Marrero allowed Taylor Roy to score the game's first run.
The Cajuns came back in the bottom half of the first and pulled ahead with a two-run frame.
A one-out double by Matt Goulas and a Tyler Frederick walk have UL a pair of baserunners. A two-out single from Fontenot scored Goulas then in Southern's attempt to nab Fontenot heading for second base, Frederick charged home and scored after Jaguars catcher Clint Ourso dropped the throw.
The first two Cajuns batters of the second inning reached base then Alex Fuselier laid down a sacrifice bunt on which Pryer attempted to notch a putout at third base, but failed and the bases were loaded. A Goulas sacrifice fly and Poirrier home run pushed across four runs upping the UL lead to 6-1.
RBI singles from Ourso and DeMario Ellis in the third and fifth inning, respectively, cut the Cajuns lead to 6-3.
Louisiana pulled away by pushing across four runs combined between the sixth and seventh innings.
An error, bunt single by Daniel Nichols and hit by pitch with one out loaded the bases for the Cajuns in the sixth inning. Poirrier lofted a fly ball to left field that was misplayed by Roy allowing Bourque to score with the inning's firs run. Nichols scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Frederick and Goulas crossed home plate on a double steal attempt to add two more runs and up the UL lead to 9-3.
An RBI double by Bourque down the right field line in the seventh inning brought Fontenot home with the Cajuns' final run.
The Jaguars picked up a run off of Cajuns closer Matt Hicks in the ninth inning on an Ourso sacrifice fly.
BASES NOTED: Cajuns starting pitcher Jordan Nicholson made his M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field debut...Freshman Chase Compton (DH) and Dominick Francia (CF) made their first career starts...Southern made a quick turnaround to make it to "The Tigue" for Tuesday's game, flying back from Los Angeles on Monday and arriving in Baton Rouge late in the evening...The Jaguars participated in the MLB Urban Challenge in Compton, Calif., taking on UC-Irvine, Grambling State and Bethune-Cookman...The Cajuns and Jaguars met on the diamond for the 68th meeting all-time...UL now leads the all-time series 45-22-1 and sports an 8-1 mark against the Jaguars in the Tony Robichaux Era...Greg Fontenot finished the night 4-for-4, his third game of the 2011 season with at least three base hits and his first four-hit game since May 16, 2009 at UNO...Fontenot is tied for the team lead with three multiple-hit games and now owns 45 career multi-hit games...Fontenot collected six assists moving his career total to 395, moving him with five of becoming the fourth Cajun to reach 400 career assists...Chase Traffica made his 2011 season debut as he pitched the eighth inning...The Jaguars run in the ninth inning was the first allowed by Matt Hicks in 9 2/3 innings of relief pitched this season...Louisiana's pitching held the opponent to single digit runs for the 41st consecutive game, a streak that dates back to April 6 of last season.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
