University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
La.-Monroe
UL Locks Up Three Seed and Series Victory
5/21/2011 2:00:00 AM | Baseball
With an 11-1 victory over La.-Monroe Friday evening at Warhawk Field in Monroe, Louisiana maintained sole possession of third place in the Sun Belt standings and captured a series victory for the fourth time in the past five weeks.
And with a Will Skinner walk off grand slam giving Middle Tennessee a 5-1 win over Western Kentucky the Ragin' Cajuns clinched the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament which will be held at Warhawk Field May 25-29.
Louisiana (31-23, 18-11 Sun Belt) recorded four two-run innings over the first six innings and Ryland Parker pitched five innings of no-hit baseball as the outcome of the contest was never in doubt.
The Cajuns avenged a series loss to the Warhawks (23-30, 8-21 Sun Belt) that came in March at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field, extended their win streak to four games and moved a season-high eight games above .500.
The two teams will complete the regular-season ending series at 6 p.m., on Saturday. UL will start T.J. Geith (6-4, 4.89 ERA) and La.-Monroe is expected to start Jordy Poche (0-1, 30.00 ERA).
Mike Petello provided the punch for the Cajuns offense, homering twice and driving in five runs. He also scored four runs and finished the night 4-for-5 at the plate registering his 21st multiple-hit and 10th multiple-RBI game of the season.
Jordan Poirrier added a four-hit game (4-for-5) with his final hit a solo home run in the eighth inning that tied him with Petello for the team-lead with eight home runs.
Petello and Poirrier were part of a combination with Matt Goulas and Lance Marvel - the Nos. 2-3-4-5 hitters in the UL lineup - that combined finished the night 14-of-19 with nine runs scored and eight RBI.
Parker carried his no-hit bid into the sixth inning before giving way to Randall Bulliard for the final 12 outs. Bulliard limited the Warhawks to two hits over a span of four innings to collect his first save of the season.
Louisiana tied a season-high with 19 base hits and recorded season-highs with four home runs and 32 total bases. La.-Monroe was held to three hits - all of them singles in the sixth inning - by Parker and Bulliard.
A two-out walk by Petello off of La.-Monroe starter Randy Zeigler in the first inning kept the inning alive and the Cajuns took advantage to put the hosts in an early deficit. A double by Poirrier and single by Marvel produced the game's first two runs.
Petello's first home run of the night highlighted a two-spot in the third inning that increased the UL lead to 4-0.
Back-to-back, one-out singles by Petello and Poirrier then a four-pitch walk to Marvel loaded the bases for UL in the fifth inning. Zeigler induced an infield fly from Daniel Nichols for the second out, but Michael Strentz chopped a single over the head of third baseman Judd Edwards to bring home two more runs.
Petello's second home run of the game brought an end to Zeigler's outing in the sixth inning. The two-run blast upped the lead to 8-0 and it marked the sixth two-out hit Zeigler surrendered.
Parker started the bottom of the sixth and lost the no-hit bid on the first pitch of the frame. Joey Rapp singled through the left side for the Warhawks' first hit.
La.-Monroe would collect two hits off of Bulliard and plated a run on a Jason Hicks RBI single. Bulliard induced a double play ball from Kelvin York to prevent the Warhawks from inching any closer.
Poirrier homered in the eighth inning, Trask Switzenberg homered in the ninth inning and Petello picked up his fifth RBI on a two-out single off Fraser Adams to finish off the scoring.
Bulliard retired the final nine Warhawks he faced wrapping up his save by catching York looking at strike three.
Zeigler, who held the Cajuns to one earned run in eight innings in Lafayette on March 19, took the loss for La.-Monroe after giving up eight runs (all earned) on 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings.
BASES NOTED: The Cajuns notched four stolen bases, increasing their season total to a Sun Belt-leading 75...Mike Petello notched his third four-hit game of the season with all coming in Sun Belt play - April 23 vs. South Alabama, May 7 at Troy and May 20 at La.-Monroe...Jordan Poirrier registered his second four-hit contest and first since going 4-for-5 in the Arkansas State series finale on March 27...Petello increased his season hit total to 69 and upped his team-leading average to .363...Petello is hitting 6-of-9 (.667) with two home runs and eight RBI in the weekend series...Ryland Parker started in place of Jordan Nicholson who was suspended for a violation of team rules...It was Parker's first career Sun Belt Conference start...With the No. 3 seed clinched the Ragin' Cajuns know their game times for the upcoming Sun Belt Tournament...UL will have a day off on Wednesday then play at 11 a.m. on Thursday and Friday and wrap up round robin play on Saturday at 7 p.m...For the sixth straight game the Cajuns held the opposition to three runs or less...It marked the 37th time this season that Cajuns pitching held the opponent to five runs or less (27-10 record)...The Cajuns have won five straight over La.-Monroe at Warhawk Field a streak that began with a series sweep in last season's regular-season ending series.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
