Warhawks Steal Lead in Second Inning and Hold on to Claim Finale

Contact: Matt Hebert

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MONROE – La.-Monroe used a five-run second inning to seize the momentum and added an unearned run in the sixth inning and sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to hold off the Ragin' Cajuns baseball team 7-5 Sunday afternoon at Warhawk Field in the finale of the Sun Belt Conference opening series.

The five-spot erased a 3-0 Cajuns lead and starting pitcher Cale Wine was able to maintain the lead by holding the Cajuns (12-8, 2-1 Sun Belt) to two-out hits in the third and fourth inning and inducing a double play ball in the fifth after back-to-back one-out singles posed a threat.

Jordan Harrison and Cord Cockrell did their part for Louisiana on the mound posting zeros through the fifth inning. Harrison struck out Jeremy Sy with two aboard in the third to end the frame. Cockrell entered in the fourth inning and retired six of the first seven hitters he faced.

The unearned run and sacrifice fly proved to be valuable insurance for the Warhawks (13-8, 1-2 Sun Belt) as a Dylan Butler RBI single and Chase Compton sacrifice fly in the eighth inning drew the Cajuns within two runs at 7-5.

Ryan Leonards collected his fourth hit of the day in the ninth inning when he singled through the left side off of Fraser Adams with two outs. Wil Browning entered for La.-Monroe and struck out pinch hitter Nick Jones to end the game.

Louisiana finished with a season-high 15 hits, but unfortunately several of them came with two outs and the timely hit never followed. The Cajuns stranded 13 baserunners in the contest including seven from the third through sixth inning after the Warhawks had grabbed the lead.

Joe Zimmermann, who was charged with all five runs that crossed for La.-Monroe in the fifth inning, took the loss.

Leonards posted his second four-hit game of the season and team-leading ninth multiple-hit game. Butler finished with two RBI giving him at least one in 10 of the past 11 games.

“Our bullpen came in and held them down and our hitters did a great job posting 15 hits on a Sunday,” head coach Tony Robichaux said. “We just didn't get the right hit at the right time. But in the end we were within striking distance and they didn't quit and that's going to be important down the stretch.

“We did leave a significant number of runners stranded on base, but that means we're getting on base. The hits are going to fall. We had a lot of good at bats where we hit the ball on the nose…just right at people.

“We did a good job taking two-of-three in the series and executing in every phase of the game today. I have to believe the Joe (Zimmermann) will knock the rust off and be okay.”

The Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Tuesday, March 20 at “The Tigue” as they host Tulane in a 6 p.m. contest. It's the Green Wave's first visit to Lafayette since March 26, 2003, a contest that UL won 9-8 on a two-run walk-off home run by Ryan Core.

The Cajuns scored first for the 15^th time in 20 outings when a Tyler Girouard double and Butler single produced the game's first run.

Louisiana drove Wine's pitch count to 29 in the opening frame, eventually loading the bases. Wine induced a fielder's choice grounder from Jace Conrad to prevent further damage.

UL gave Zimmermann a three-run lead in the second inning when Girouard ripped his second double of the contest into the right center field gap to plate Leonards (leadoff infield single) and Brian Bowman (one-out walk).

Zimmermann lost a bit of his command in the second inning and it cost him a bases loaded situation with no outs after a hit by pitch and walk on a sacrifice attempt followed a leadoff single by Corben Green.

The Cajuns picked up an out when a batted ball hit Judd Edwards on the basepath. However, the Warhawks wouldn't let the Cajuns off the hook as a wild pitch, single to center field and drag bunt plated three runs to knot the score at 3-all.

An excellent defensive play by Girouard led to a force out at third base for the second out and the Cajuns called Harrison from the bullpen. A Caleb Clowers single to left field kept the inning alive, then Joey Rapp took a 0-2 offering from Harrison into left field to score two runs and give the hosts a 5-3 lead.

BASES NOTED: Dylan Butler increased his team-leading RBI total to 25, a tally which ranks him third in the Sun Belt Conference…Joe Zimmermann made his first start on the mound since the Towson series opener (Feb. 24)…Zimmermann had missed the previous two weekends of play with a hamstring injury…Night and day games have provided a stark contrast for the Ragin' Cajuns – UL is 9-1 in night games and only 3-7 in day games…Chase Compton's fielding error in the sixth inning was the lone miscue in the field for Louisiana during the series…Aside from Compton's error, the Cajuns field 112 of 113 chances perfectly…Despite the loss, UL posted a series victory over La.-Monroe for the first series win during opening weekend of Sun Belt play since 2007…With geographical rivals meeting twice during Sun Belt regular season play, the Cajuns and Warhawks will meet again Thursday-Saturday, May 17-19 at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field to conclude the regular season…Matt Hicks and Cord Cockrell made their ninth and eighth appearance in relief, respectively, which is tops in the Cajuns bullpen.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Warhawks Steal Lead in Second Inning and Hold on to Claim Finale

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