University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Western Kentucky
Cajuns Rally Behind Traffica to Avoid Sweep
4/10/2011 7:00:00 PM | Baseball
Chase Traffica put an end to a Western Kentucky uprising in the sixth inning then in the seventh inning became the first Cajuns pitcher in the game to post a zero after Louisiana had registered runs and because of that the Ragin' Cajuns salvaged a game at Nick Denes Field in Bowling Green, Ky., taking the series finale 8-6.
Traffica relieved Caleb Kellogg in the sixth inning with three runs already having crossed home plate and registered the final out.
Louisiana (18-13, 7-5 Sun Belt) took advantage of WKU relievers struggle to locate the strike zone in the seventh inning to draw even at 6-all. Taylor Haydel and Rye Davis combined to issue five walks to Cajuns batters, the last two occurring with the bases loaded forcing in the equalizing runs.
Traffica battled back from a Logan Robbins leadoff single to start the bottom of the seventh by retiring the next three batters Western Kentucky (20-12, 8-4 Sun Belt) sent to the plate. That marked the first time in the game that a Cajuns pitcher did not allow a WKU run after a Cajuns scoring frame.
An RBI single from Alex Fuselier in the eighth inning made a winner out of Traffica, his first decision of the season. The Cajuns added insurance in the ninth inning on a Michael Strentz sacrifice fly.
Traffica survived his final test of the relief stint when he struck out Robbins looking with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.
With the win the Ragin' Cajuns avoided being swept in Sun Belt play for the first time since April 2009 and prevented the Hilltoppers for notching their first series sweep of UL.
The Cajuns have now gone 17 consecutive Sun Belt series without being swept by the opposition. The squad improved to 7-3 on Sunday.
Louisiana returns to "The Tigue" on Tuesday for the only home game on the current stretch of 10-of-11 on the road. It's Season Ticket Redemption Night as the Cajuns host I-10 rival McNeese State at 6 p.m.
Fuselier led the Cajuns with three hits while Greg Fontenot and Lance Marvel added two hits apiece. Robbins led WKU with a three-hit game.
T.J. Geith (5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 91 pitches) and Brian Edelen (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 89 pitches) started and each received a no-decision.
The Cajuns started the second inning with back-to-back singles from Marvel and Daniel Nichols and wound up with game's first run. Jordan Bourque sacrificed them to second and third and Chris Sinclair brought home Marvel on a ground out to first base.
The Hilltoppers drew even in their half of the second getting a two-out RBI single from Casey Dykes.
Fuselier picked up his second leadoff single of the game in the third inning. Fontenot sacrificed him to second base, but for the second time he was stranded on the basepath as Jordan Poirrier and Mike Petello lined out.
Geith would issue three walks in the fourth inning including two with two outs to load the bases. He didn't have to pay for the free passes, though, as Dykes grounded out to Poirrier for the final out.
The Cajuns jumped back in front in the fifth inning on a two-out single from Fontenot which scored Tyler Frederick who drew a one-out walk off Edelen.
Once again, the Hilltoppers answered a Cajuns score with runs in the bottom of the frame. And again it came with two outs. Robbins delivered the clutch hit singling home Matt Rice to even the score at 2-all. Geith then uncorked a wild pitch on a 0-2 count to Chris Bullard allowing Ryan Hutchison to score and put WKU up 3-2.
It was an unfortunate turn of events for Geith who nearly worked out of trouble after surrendering a leadoff double to Ivan Hartle and subsequent single to Rice. He induced a shallow fly out from Kes Carter and on a bouncer back to him at the mound caught Hartle attempting to score from third for the second out.
The Cajuns picked up Geith in the top half of the sixth. Petello greeted reliever Brian Doering with a leadoff homer to left field evening the score at 3-apiece. UL grabbed the lead later in the inning on a two-out bunt single to third base by Sinclair.
The lead was short-lived as for the first time this season Kellogg surrendered multiple runs, giving up three to the Toppers in the bottom of the sixth.
BASES NOTED: For the third straight day, Alex Fuselier led off the game with a base hit and as a result his current hitting streak was extended to six games...Chris Sinclair's RBI groundout in the second inning marked the second time the Cajuns scored first in the weekend series...UL is 11-4 when scoring first...Greg Fontenot's two-out RBI single in the fifth inning gave him his eighth two-out RBI which ranks second on the team...The two pitching staffs combined to issue 17 walks after issuing a combined three walks in the series first two games...WKU pitching issued nine walks while UL pitching allowed eight free passes...The Cajuns evened the series at Nick Denes Field at 12-12...UL now leads the all-time series 39-23, overall, with all meetings occurring in the Sun Belt Conference Era.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
