Butler's Blast Breaks Tie and Cajuns Pull Away to Even Series

Contact: Matt Hebert

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Dylan Butler answered a three-run inning by Middle Tennessee with a two-run homer in the fifth inning that broke a tie and the Ragin' Cajuns baseball team continued to build upon the lead on the way to a 10-4 victory in game one of a Saturday doubleheader here at Reese Smith, Jr. Field.

Butler's blast to left field, his eighth home run of the season, gave Louisiana (22-27, 10-16 Sun Belt) a 5-3 advantage. A Jace Conrad RBI single in the sixth inning stretched the lead to three runs, then a three-run home run by Chris Sinclair in the seventh inning upped the lead to 9-3 and put the game out of reach.

A Conrad RBI triple capped off the Cajuns scoring in the seventh inning and Caleb Kellogg held the Blue Raiders (27-24, 13-13 Sun Belt) to one run off three hits over the final three innings.

The series of events made a winner out of Chris Griffitt who pitched six innings, struck out six and scattered six hits. With the exception of the three-spot in the fourth inning which pulled MT into a tie, the Cajuns southpaw tossed scoreless frames in five of six innings worked.

Louisiana snapped a four-game losing streak and grabbed a much needed victory that keeps the squad in the running for a berth in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

The two teams will complete the doubleheader at approximately 5:10 p.m. The game will be the rubber match of the series with UL seeking its first Sun Belt series victory since Easter weekend (April 6-8). Austin Robichaux (1-4, 3.47 ERA) is scheduled to face MT's Hunter Adkins (5-5, 4.76 ERA).

The Cajuns offense was paced by four players with multiple RBI led by four from Sinclair. Butler, Conrad and Brian Bowman each tallied two RBI.

Reliever Daniel Palo was charged with the loss for the Blue Raiders after taking over for starter Johnathan Frebis in the fifth inning and surrendering the home run to Butler. Butler's two-run shot marked the first of six runs Palo wound up being responsible for in 2 2/3 innings of work.

The Cajuns' 10 runs marked the fifth double figure scoring contest of the season and was the highest output since plating 10 runs on April 18 vs. Northwestern State.

UL piled up 14 hits, reaching double figures for the ninth time in the past 14 games. Conrad and Sinclair led the charge with three hits apiece.

A two run triple by Bowman and an RBI groundout by Sinclair put three on the board for Louisiana in the second inning.

The Blue Raiders drew even in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Robert Lawrence and a two-run single by Jorden Rorex.

Butler's fifth-inning home run returned the lead to UL and Griffitt posted a zero in the bottom of the fifth to keep the momentum on the Cajuns side.

The Cajuns were able to break away from the Blue Raiders in the seventh inning when Palo issued consecutive two-out walks to Tyler Girouard and Bowman. Sinclair made the MT reliever pay for the free passes when he launched his three-run home run over the right field fence and UL led 9-3.

Reliever Keaton Baker was greeted by a Ryan Leonards single and subsequent Conrad triple that resulted in the Cajuns' final tally of the contest.

UL's defense turned inning-ending double plays in the seventh and the eighth inning to offset the traffic MT was able to produce off of Kellogg

BASES NOTED: Chris Griffitt remained unbeaten on the road in Sun Belt play with the victory (2 wins, three no-decisions)…Dylan Butler increased his season RBI total to 43 with the two-run home run, the most RBI by a freshman since Jonathan Lucroy tallied 48 in 2005…Brian Bowman played in his 155^th career game…Chase Compton posted two hits, collecting his team-leading 18^th multi-hit game of the season…Every Cajuns batter who recorded an official at bat registered at least one base hit…Freshman Jace Conrad played error-free over eight chances that came his way, stretching his current string of error-free chances to 68 dating back to April 20 at South Alabama…Louisiana posted a pair of three-run innings, increasing the season total to 26…The Cajuns improved to 14-5 in games in which the offense produces at least one three-run inning…The game marked the opening of the third doubleheader between the two schools in Sun Belt action (April 5, 2008 and May 1, 2010 were the previous doubleheader meetings)…It also marked the Cajuns first doubleheader action of the 2012 season…UL defeated MT for the 11^th time in the past 13 meetings and improved to 24-11 vs. the Blue Raiders in Sun Belt regular season games…Head coach Tony Robichaux moved within seven wins of 900 career wins (currently 893-613-1 in his 26^th season as a Division I head coach).

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Butler's Blast Breaks Tie and Cajuns Pull Away to Even Series

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