University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Western Kentucky
WKU Pulls Out Win Late, Takes Series
4/9/2011 11:00:00 PM | Baseball
The Hilltoppers grabbed the lead in the second inning on a two-out RBI double from Chris Bullard for an early 1-0 lead. That was all the noise the hosts made until a rally in the eighth inning.
In the eighth inning with the scored tied at 1-1, Western Kentucky (20-11, 8-3 Sun Belt) cashed in the winning hit in what was just their second opportunity with a runner in scoring position.
Back-to-back singles with one out off of Cajuns reliever Joey Satriano set the stage for Matt Rice. The Toppers standout catcher delivered as he poked a single to left field to score Jared Andreoli with the winning tally.
Phil Wetherell sat the Ragin' Cajuns (17-13, 6-5 Sun Belt) down in order in the ninth to wrap up the triumph which gave Western Kentucky the series win.
Louisiana seeks to avoid being swept in Sun Belt play for the first time since April 2009 on Sunday in the series finale. The two squads are scheduled to begin play at 11 a.m. T.J. Geith (3-2, 4.26 ERA) will start for UL and Brian Edelen (3-1, 4.86 ERA) takes the mound for WKU.
The loss spoiled a terrific outing for Joe Zimmermann. The UNO transfer followed up 5 1/3 innings of three-hit baseball last week vs. Florida Atlantic with six complete innings of three-hit baseball against the Hilltoppers. It was Zimmermann's longest outing of the season.
Zimmermann got in a groove after Bullard's double by retiring the next 12 Hilltoppers he faced until a walk in the bottom of the sixth put a runner aboard.
Louisiana loaded the bases in the fourth inning getting a one-out walk from Mike Petello and two-out single by Lance Marvel then a fielding error allowed Daniel Nichols to reach. WKU starter Tanner Perkins escaped the jam as Frederick hit into a fielder's choice ground out to end the inning.
The Cajuns broke through against Perkins in the sixth inning. Petello beat out a throw from Logan Robbins at shortstop for an infield single. With two outs, Marvel brought Petello home with a triple off the wall in straightaway center field and the score was knotted at 1-all.
UL had the first crack at breaking the tie. In the top of the eighth inning Petello notched another infield single and moved to third base when Jordan Poirrier drove a single down the right field line.
The Cajuns would squander another opportunity as Marvel hit into a 5-4-3 double play which ended the frame and held the tie intact.
Satriano began the bottom of the eighth with a strikeout of Casey Dykes, his third of the relief stint, but Andreoli and Ivan Hartle singled to set up the game-clincher by Rice.
Satriano was saddled with the loss, his first in seven relief outings.
BASES NOTED: The series loss marks the fourth straight trip to Bowling Green that Louisiana loses the series...UL dropped its second Sun Belt series of the season (dropped 2-of-3 to La.-Monroe March 18-20)...In three appearances and two starts in Sun Belt play, Joe Zimmerman has tossed 14 innings, allowed 11 hits and three earned runs...Zimmermann's Sun Belt ERA was lowered to 1.93...When Michael Strentz caught Ivan Hartle attempting to steal in the first inning it marked the 17th runner caught stealing by the Cajuns catchers and ninth by Strentz...Zimmermann and Tanner Perkins combined to walk three runners and those are the only walks issued by the pitching staffs in the series...Cajuns pitching has struck out 12 and walked only one Hilltopper batter in 16 innings pitched in the series...Louisiana held the opponent below five runs for the 21st time in 30 games...The Cajuns dropped to 3-8 when scoring two runs or less.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
