Baseball Starts Anew, 2013 Season Begins Friday at "The Tigue"

Contact: Matt Hebert

Louisiana Game Notes | CMU Game Notes

THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, Feb. 15-17, 2013
Location: Lafayette, La.
Site: M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field (3,755)
Times: 6:00 p.m. (Fri) | 2:00 p.m. DH (Sat) | 11:00 a.m. (Sun)
Opponent: Central Michigan (34-29, 17-10 MAC in 2012)
Radio: News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Television: None
Internet Broadcast Links: 96.5 KPEL-FM
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com

STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: RHP Chase Traffica (UL) vs. LHP Matt Trowbridge (CMU)
Saturday G1: LHP Cody Boutte (UL) vs. RHP Pat Kaminska (CMU)
Saturday G2: RHP Austin Robicahaux (UL) vs. RHP Jordan Foley (CMU)
Sunday: TBA (UL) vs. LHP Rick Dodridge (CMU)

PLAY BALL: Louisiana opens the 2013 season Friday-Sunday, Feb. 15-17 hosting Central Michigan at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field in a four-game series. The Ragin' Cajuns are beginning the 42nd season (1972-present) as a Division I program and the 19th season of the Tony Robichaux Era (1995-present).

WELCOME TO “THE TIGUE”: M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field enters is 36th year of service (1978-present) to the UL baseball program. The Cajuns all-time record in the facility stands at 767-303-2.

GRAB YOUR CHAIR AND SETTLE IN: The Central Michigan series jumpstarts a season-opening, 14-game homestand for Louisiana. The back end of the opening homestand is highlighted by LSU's visit on Feb. 26. Following a third consecutive weekend at “The Tigue”, with Sacred Heart University providing the opposition March 1-3, the homestand concludes with a midweek meeting against former Sun Belt rival New Orleans on March 5.

HOMESTAND TIDBITS: The season-opening 14-game homestand is the longest homestand for the Cajuns since the 1994 season began with a 13-game homestand (Feb. 18-March 6, 1994). The school record for longest homestand is 29 games, set at the start of the 1989 season.

ROBICHAUX NEARING NO. 900: Head coach Tony Robichaux is six wins shy of 900 career wins (presently 894-616-1 in 26 seasons as a Division I head coach).

TRAFFICA GETS THE CALL: Redshirt junior pitcher Chase Traffica, who missed the 2012 season with Tommy John surgery, has been selected to serve as the 2013 Opening Day starting pitcher. Louisiana has a new Opening Day pitcher for the first time since 2010 – Joe Zimmermann got the nod in 2011 and 2012. Zach Osborne was UL's Opening Day starter in 2009 and 2010.

IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU: The season-opening weekend series with Central Michigan marks the first time that the Ragin' Cajuns and Chippewas meet on the baseball diamond.

CAJUNS IN OPENERS: Since 1972, Louisiana is 28-13 in season openers and has won 13 of its last 15 season openers. Under Tony Robichaux, the Ragin' Cajuns are 14-4 in season openers. Last season, UL opened the season on a Saturday as rain postponed action at the Texas State Bobcat Classic. Louisiana defated Wichita State 1-0 in the 2012 opener.

COACHES SHUFFLE PLACES: With the promotion of Anthony Babineaux to associate head coach, he moves into the dugout to serve as Tony Robichaux's bench coach. Full-time assistant coach Matt Deggs, in charge of the offense, moves into the third base box (coached first base in 2012). And, newly hired volunteer assistant Lance Harvell will coach at first base.

A RARE OCCURENCE: The Cajuns final record of 23-30 in 2012 marked only the fourth sub-.500 record in 18 seasons of the Tony Robichaux Era. Since coming off probation that Robichaux inherited when he took charge of the program (after 1996 season), the Cajuns have never had back-to-back losing seasons under his guidance (1997-2012).

NEW FACES, NEW BEGINNINGS: The Cajuns roster is filled with several newcomers as the team attempts to create a new “identity” to put last season behind them. In all, the team's official roster – which is made up of 32 players – features 17 new players.

PLENTY EXPERIENCE TO DRAW UPON: UL's top four hitters from 2012 return – Chase Compton (64 hits), Jace Conrad (57 hits), Ryan Leonards (54 hits) and Dylan Butler (50 hits).

PROVEN RESULTS: This is UL's first full season under Matt Deggs' hitting system. Deggs enjoyed paramount success at Texas A&M, with his offense producing 299 home runs and over 2,700 hits while driving in over 1,600 runs the final four years (2007-10). Deggs utilizes an aggressive offensive attack that he describes as a “Pack Mentality” approach that helped Texas A&M capture back to back Big 12 Titles in 2007 and 2008.

FAITHFUL FANS: The 2012 season total attendance was 56,122 marking the fourth straight year and seventh in the last eight UL has drawn more than 50,000. Louisiana ended the regular season ranked 30th nationally in average home attendance (2,078). UL was one of only 39 Division I baseball programs (291 total programs) to reach 50,000 in total attendance. The Cajuns led the Sun Belt in home average attendance for the 13 straight season (2000-12).

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Baseball Starts Anew, 2013 Season Begins Friday at "The Tigue"

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