University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
La.-Monroe*
Cajuns Face Rival Warhawks in Monroe to Kick off Sun Belt Play
3/15/2012 8:38:00 PM | Baseball
Contact: Matt Hebert
Game Notes
THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, March 16-18
Location: Monroe, La.
Site: Warhawk Field (1,800)
Times: 6:00 p.m. (Fri) | 6:00 p.m. (Sat) | 1:00 p.m. (Sun)
Opponent: La.-Monroe (12-6, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Radio: Sports Radio ESPN 1420 AM (Sunday) & News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Internet Broadcast Links: ESPN 1420-AM and 96.5 KPEL-FM
Live Stats/Video: www.ULMWarhawks.com
STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: RHP Jordan Nicholson (UL) vs. LHP Randy Zeigler (LA-MONROE)
Saturday: LHP Chris Griffitt (UL) vs. RHP Andrew Richardson (LA-MONROE)
Sunday: TBA (UL) vs. RHP Cale Wine (LA-MONROE)
Conference Wars Begin: The Ragin' Cajuns open the 10-week Sun Belt Conference slate Friday-Sunday, March 16-18 in Monroe at Warhawk Field against in-state rival La.-Monroe.
Round One: With the loss of UNO dropping the Sun Belt baseball league to 10 teams last season , the conference decided that teams would play their geographical rival twice – at the start of league play and end of league play – to keep the league schedule at 30 games. UL and La.-Monroe begin SBC play this weekend and conclude league play May 17-19 at “The Tigue”.
21st Season in Sun Belt: The Cajuns are entering their 21st season of competition in the Sun Belt Conference. Since joining the league in 1992, Louisiana has accrued a league mark of 333-193 (.633) and claimed six conference championships.
Model of Consistency: UL has gone 23 consecutive Sun Belt series without being swept by the opposition (dates back to April 2009). The Cajuns' Sun Belt record during the streak is 45-24.
Quick Reset: Louisiana scored first for the 12th time in 17 outings, plating a run in the first inning and built up a 6-0 advantage after three innings of play in a midweek contest with Southern on Tuesday at “The Tigue”. The big blow came in the second inning when true freshman Dylan Butler launched a grand slam home run. After a hit by pitch forced home a Jaguars run, and trimmed the UL lead to 6-5 in the eighth inning, Matt Hicks fanned Brian Rowry with the bases loaded. Chris Sinclair erased a leadoff walk for the Jaguars in the ninth inning when he caught pinch runner Tyler Kirksey on an overslide of second base. Hicks then forced Clint Ourso to fly out for the final out of the 6-5 victory.
The La.-Monroe Series (UL Leads 64-48): The Cajuns are 10-8 in Sun Belt Conference play against the Warhawks and 21-14 vs. La.-Monroe in the Robichaux Era. After becoming Sun Belt foes in 2007, the Cajuns and Warhawks traded win streaks. The Cajuns won the first four meetings (swept '07, claimed '08 opener), then La.-Monroe captured the next five meetings. The teams have alternated series victories the past two seasons (UL swept 2010 series; La.-Monroe took 2-of-3 at “The Tigue” in first 2011 series; UL claimed 2-of-3 at Warhawk Field in 2011 regular season finale).
Frequent Visitors: The Cajuns are back at Warhawk Field for the fourth straight season. UL was sent to the facility in 2009 and 2010 for SBC series, and now that geographical schools play twice a year in Sun Belt play the Cajuns will be headed to Warhawk Field every season. UL is 8-4 vs. La.-Monroe at Warhawk Field in SBC contests.
Butler in A Groove: True freshman Dylan Butler enters Sun Belt play on a season-high, eight-game hitting streak.
Bringing Them Home: Dylan Butler has posted at least one RBI in seven of the last eight games, increasing his team-leading total to 21. He continued the impressive streak with a grand slam home run Tuesday vs. Southern.
Rotation Shoring Up: Chris Griffitt returns to the weekend rotation after sitting out the Southern Miss series with a hamstring injury. Griffitt looked sharp in two innings of action against Southern, retiring all six batters he faced. The Cajuns are still waiting for Joe Zimmermann, also bothered by a hamstring that held him out of UTSA Classic and USM, to return to complete the weekend rotation.
Former Teammates Meet: Series opener starting pitchers Jordan Nicholson (UL) and Randy Zeigler (La.-Monroe) were both teammates at LSU in 2009. Both transferred following the 2009 season - Nicholson to UL and Zeigler to Bossier Parish CC.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
