University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Northwestern State
UL Grabs Lead in 5th, Relief Finishes off NSU
3/30/2011 2:00:00 AM | Baseball
Lance Marvel beat the throw on a double play attempt in the fifth inning to allow the go-ahead run to score for Louisiana and the bullpen retired 12 of the final 13 hitters Northwestern State sent to the plate as the Ragin' Cajuns posted a 6-3 midweek victory over the Demons at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field Tuesday evening.
Marvel's hustle allowed Greg Fontenot, who led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single, to score and put the Cajuns (13-11) back in front 4-3.
Northwestern State (7-17) had pulled even in the top of the fifth inning when Colin Bear launched his second home run of the game.
Blake Wascom and Caleb Kellogg closed the door on the Demons over the final four innings, tossing scoreless relief. Wascom, who entered in the fifth inning, collected the victory and Kellogg threw a perfect eighth and ninth inning to notch his first collegiate save.
Greg Fontenot's fourth hit of the contest was two-RBI double into the right center field gap with two outs in the eighth inning and it provided extra breathing room for Kellogg to finish off the save.
Louisiana remains at "The Tigue" this weekend for a key Sun Belt series with Florida Atlantic (16-8, 5-1 Sun Belt). The matchup featuring the two teams that shared the 2010 SBC title and play begins Friday at 6 p.m., and continues Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Fontenot finished 4-for-5 to record his third four-hit game of the season and eighth multiple-hit game overall. His double in the eighth inning was the Cajuns' 10th base hit of the game marking the team's sixth consecutive game with double figure hits.
With the win, Louisiana extended its winning streak over Northwestern State at "The Tigue" to six games and has now won eight of the past 11 meetings dating back to 2007.
The Demons staged a two-out rally in the first inning to claim an early lead. Bear's first home run of the game opened the scoring and two batters later Chris Hebert singled home Matt Farmer who doubled after Bear's homer.
NSU's early uprising resulted in an early exit for Cajuns starter Michael Cook. Cook was lifted with two outs and Chase Traffica came in to record the final out.
The Cajuns had a runner in scoring position in the first two innings, but would make back-to-back outs each time and remained scoreless.
Traffica induced a foul out with the bases loaded in the third inning and double play in the fourth inning to hold the Demons lead at 2-0.
A Michael Strentz RBI single put UL on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning then the Cajuns manufactured two more runs to grab their first lead of the evening.
Compton and Bourque followed up Strentz's hit with back-to-back bunts that brought home runners from third base.
Marvel scored on Compton's bunt when NSU catcher Aaron Munoz dropped the throw from first baseman Will Watson and the Cajuns pulled even at 2-all. On Bourque's bunt, Strentz slid underneath the Munoz's tag to give Louisiana the lead.
Bear's second home run of the game began the fifth inning and knotted the score at 3-3. After a two-out single the Cajuns brought in Wascom from the bullpen to snuff out any chance of a Demons rally.
Fontenot jumpstarted the Cajuns in the bottom of the fifth inning with his single and after a steal of second moved into scoring position for Marvel's hustle play after Mike Petello singled into shallow left field.
BASES NOTED: The Cajuns are now 5-0 on Tuesday and 5-2 in midweek games...Louisiana has now won five of the last six games since falling two games below .500 after a loss to La.-Monroe on Saturday, March 19...The Cajuns upped their all-time series lead over NSU to 76-47 and improved to 21-15 against the Demons in the Tony Robichaux Era...Greg Fontenot's four-hit performance marked the sixth four-hit game of the season for the Cajuns...Chase Traffica made his fourth appearance out of the bullpen and turned in his longest outing of the season, tossing 3 2/3 innings in relief of Michael Cook...Caleb Kellogg also recorded his fourth appearance and went on to notch the Cajuns' second save of 2011...Alex Fuselier and Mike Petello both extended their season-high hitting streaks to seven games...For the 16th time in 24 games this season the Cajuns pitching staff held the opposition below five runs...Dating back to the 2010 season, UL has held the opposition to five runs or less in 61 of the last 84 games (Cajuns are 47-14 in those games).
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
