Bullpen Shuts Down FIU, Clutch Bases-Loaded Hits Deliver Win

Contact: Matt Hebert

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LAFAYETTE – Six scoreless innings pitched by the bullpen and a pair of two-out base hits with the bases loaded keyed a come-from-behind 5-4 victory for Louisiana over FIU Saturday evening at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field, evening the weekend Sun Belt series between the two clubs.

Relievers Derek Howell, Matt Hicks and Caleb Kellogg posted zeros over the final six innings after FIU struck for four runs in the game's first three frames.

The Cajuns (16-18, 6-8 Sun Belt) came away empty handed on three straight at bats with the bases loaded in the third inning. When presented with the opportunity in the sixth and seventh inning, Tyler Girouard and Brian Bowman came through with the clutch two-out hits that fueled the comeback.

The rally began in the sixth inning when FIU reliever John Caballero issued three walks – the latter two coming with two outs. Girouard and Leonards made sure Louisiana took advantage this time, coming through with back-to-back singles which produced three runs and cut the FIU lead to 4-3.

Hicks threw only one pitch in the contest, but it was a critical one. In the top of the seventh, FIU (20-14, 8-6 Sun Belt) got two aboard off of Howell with a pair of two-out singles from Mike Martinez and Jabari Henry.

Hicks relieved Howell and did what head coach Tony Robichaux always preaches to his relievers – record an out on the first guy you face, especially with inherited runners on base. A fly out to center field off the bat of Adam Kirsch completed Hicks' mission.

Jace Conrad reached on a fielder's choice, Tyler Frederick was hit by a pitch and Almann Snowden reached on an error by FIU second baseman T.J. Shantz to load the bases for the Cajuns in the seventh inning.

Reliever Eddy Pidermann struck out Adam Todd for the second out, but the error loomed large for the Panthers on the very next at bat. Bowman fouled off a pair of pitches, then took a 2-2 offering from Pidermann down the right field line scoring Conrad and Frederick for a 5-4 lead.

Kellogg kept the Panthers off the scoreboard in the eighth and ninth inning by working around a two-out single in the eighth and inducing a double play in the ninth after a hit by pitch gave FIU the leadoff batter on the base path.

A strikeout of Henry capped off Kellogg's fourth save of the season – and second straight on Saturday night in Sun Belt play – and set up the rubber match with the Panthers on Sunday at Noon.

“Brian (Bowman) was good when it mattered, and that is what we keep trying to preach,” Robichaux said. “You have to give a lot of credit to Derek Howell for bridging the gap for us. He did a great job of getting the first guy out he faced when he came in and hanging some zeros on the board for us. The game could have gotten out of hand right there.

“This is a good hitting ball club that we were able to hold in check for the rest of the ballgame.”

Louisiana will start left-hander Jordan Harrison (3-1, 2.60 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday and he'll be opposed by FIU lefty R.J. Fondon (4-3, 4.29 ERA). The game is the Sun Belt Network Game of the Week and will air on CST and CSS. Viewers are advised to check their local listings for additional channel information.

Bowman and Girouard led the Cajuns with two RBI apiece. Todd, starting at catcher in place of Chris Sinclair for the second straight weekend series, caught two Panthers attempting to steal, the second coming in the seventh inning just before back-to-back singles by Martinez and Henry.

After starter Chris Griffitt was pulled after three innings, Howell worked 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief holding the Panthers in check to set the stage for the comeback.

Hicks was credited with the win. FIU reliever John Costa, who was responsible for Conrad and Frederick reaching base in the seventh inning, was charged with the loss.

Louisiana will attempt to break a string of series losses to FIU which is currently at four straight when the two squads take the field tomorrow. The Cajuns' last series win over the Panthers came in 2007 in Miami.

Griffitt rebounded from a hit by pitch in the game's first at bat with consecutive strikeouts. He would then begin experiencing problems locating his pitches and back-to-back, two-out walks loaded the bases for the Panthers. Kirsch cashed in for the Panthers when he lifted a single into center field allowing a pair of runs to score.

Griffitt tossed 35 pitches due to the location problems and that eventually played a factor in his exit after the third inning.

A two-out single up the middle from Conrad and walk by Frederick gave UL traffic in the bottom of the second inning. Snowden grabbed hold of an Ellis offering, but the drive stopped at the warning track.

FIU extended the lead in the fourth inning taking advantage of another two-walk inning from Griffitt. Following the walks, Kirsch came through again, doubling into the left center field gap to score Martinez. A second run crossed on an Aramis Garcia groundout and FIU led 4-0.

Louisiana appeared ready to breakthrough off of FIU starting pitcher Michael Ellis in bottom half of the third, loading the bases with no outs following singles from Todd and Bowman then a walk by Girouard. Ellis escaped unscathed as Leonards struck out, Chase Compton popped up to second base and Dylan Butler grounded out to shortstop.

BASES NOTED: The three runs scored by the Cajuns in the sixth inning marked the first three-run inning by the squad since tallying seven runs in the eighth inning against Arkansas State on Friday, March 23…Adam Todd caught a pair of Panthers attempting to steal, increasing his number of runners caught stealing to four in just five starts…Opponents are 3-for-7 in steal attempts against Todd…Ryan Leonards' RBI single in the sixth inning extended his current hitting streak to four games which is his longest streak since hitting safely in five consecutive March 17-25…Leonards' season-best hitting streak in six games set Feb. 18-25 – the first six games of the season…Derek Howell worked 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to finish the week with 5 2/3 inning of scoreless relief (two scoreless innings at Southern)…Brian Bowman's two-RBI single with the bases loaded in the seventh inning improved him to 2-for-2 in bases loaded situations this year…As a team, UL finished the night 2-for-3 with the bases loaded and collected four RBI increasing the season total for RBI with the bases loaded to 23…Jace Conrad reached base five times, reaching on a single, three walks (one intentional) and a fielder's choice…Louisiana posted its seventh come-from-behind victory and prevented FIU from claiming the series for the fifth straight season…The two squads combined to strand 24 baserunners (UL 14, FIU 10)…The two pitching staffs combined to issue 12 walks (FIU 7, UL 5) and four hit by pitches…Louisiana improved to 10-7 vs. FIU at “The Tigue” and moved within a game of tying the all-time series record (FIU leads all-time series 25-24)…UL is now one win shy of the 300^th Sun Belt victory in the Tony Robichaux era (presently 299-178)…Head coach Tony Robichaux is 13 wins shy of 900 career wins as Saturday's win upped his career record to 887-604-1 (26^th season as Division I head coach).

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Bullpen Shuts Down FIU, Clutch Bases-Loaded Hits Deliver Win

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