University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Meets FAU in Key Sun Belt Series
3/31/2011 8:57:00 PM | Baseball
THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, April 1-3
Location: Lafayette, La.
Site: M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field (3,755)
Times: 6:00 p.m. (Fri) | 6:00 p.m. (Sat) | 11:30 a.m. (Sun)
Opponent: Florida Atlantic (17-8, 5-1 Sun Belt)
Radio: News Radio 96.5 FM (KPEL)
Television: MyKLAF (Saturday and Sunday)
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com
STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: LHP Taylor Hubbell (UL) vs. RHP Ryan Garton (FAU)
Saturday: RHP Joe Zimmermann (UL) vs. RHP Paul Davis (FAU)
Sunday: LHP T.J. Geith (UL) vs. RHP R.J. Alvarez (FAU)
Defending Champions Collide: The highest profile weekend series in the Sun Belt this weekend takes place at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field as Louisiana and Florida Atlantic meet. The series features the two teams that shared the 2010 Sun Belt championship.
Halfway There: The FAU series wraps up Week 7 of the 2011 season, bringing an end to the first half of the season. The second half begins next week at Rice (April 5).
Pivotal Series: Last season proved you're never out of the conference race, but the FAU series gives the Cajuns a chance to climb near the top of the Sun Belt standings. It's also critical because the next two series are on the road (at WKU and FIU).
The Hits Keep Coming: The Ragin' Cajuns enter the weekend series with Florida Atlantic having posted double figure hits in six consecutive games.
It's Clicking Now: In the five games (dating back to La.-Monroe Sunday game) prior to the start of this week's play, the Ragin' Cajuns hit .388, scored 49 runs, rapped out 71 hits and slugged .645. UL posted 27 extra base hits during the streak.
April Means Time Change: Beginning with this weekend's series the remaining Saturday home games (except April 30 vs. UALR) will be played at 6 p.m.
Quick Reset: Lance Marvel beat out the throw on a double play attempt to allow Greg Fontenot to score the go-ahead run then Blake Wascom and Caleb Kellogg combined to retire 12 of the final 13 Northwestern State hitters in a 6-3 Cajuns victory on Tuesday at "The Tigue". Fontenot posted his third four-hit game and Kellogg recorded his first collegiate save.
The Florida Atlantic Series (FAU leads 6-5): Series began with FAU's entry into the Sun Belt in 2007. The Owls have won six of the past eight meetings since UL swept the first-ever series in 2007. Teams have split eight meetings at "The Tigue". Two programs meet at "The Tigue" for the third straight season (2009-2011).
That's More Like It: Louisiana has won five of its past six games after falling a season-high, two games below .500 after the Saturday loss to La.-Monroe.
Following Fontenot: Senior Greg Fontenot is tops in batting average (.391), base hits (34) and multiple-hit games (8). Fontenot has reached four hits three times this season.
Poirrier's Power: Jordan Poirrier hit .450 (9-for-20) last week, posting nine RBI and slugging 1.200. He saw seven of his nine base hits go for extra bases. Poirrier hit .571 (8-for-14) in the ASU series, scored six runs, rapped out six extra base hits and slugged 1.500.
He Wants More: For the season Jordan Poirrier has seen 19 of his 27 hits (70 percent) go for extra bases. He leads the team and Sun Belt in slugging percentage (.615).
Pitching is the Name of the Game: Cajuns pitching has held the opponent below five runs 16 times in 24 games.
Tough as Nails: In 92 2/3 innings of work this season the Cajuns bullpen has allowed just 30 runs and 80 hits. The pen's ERA is 2.82 and WHIP is 1.18.
It's a Winner: Louisiana claimed 2-of-3 games at Arkansas State last weekend to post the squad's first Sun Belt series victory of 2011. It was also the first series win over ASU since the 2007 season.
Take at Least One Each Weekend: UL has gone 15 consecutive Sun Belt series without being swept by the opposition (dates back to 2009)
The Sun Belt's Best: To no one's surprise the Ragin' Cajuns rank nationally and lead the Sun Belt in home average attendance. In the most current national attendance rankings UL ranked 16th with an average home attendance of 3,323.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
