Cajuns Close Out Road Trip With Sun Belt Series at WKU

Contact: Matt Hebert

Game Notes (PDF)

THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, March 29-31, 2013
Location: Bowling Green, Ky.
Site: Nick Denes Field (1,500)
Times: 6:00 p.m. (Fri) | 3:00 p.m. (Sat) | 1:00 p.m. (Sun)
Opponent: WKU (14-11, 5-1 Sun Belt)
Radio: News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and SportsRadio ESPN 1420 KPEL-AM (Saturday and Sunday)
Internet Broadcast Link: 96.5 KPEL-FM and 1420 KPEL-AM
Live Stats: www.RaginCajuns.com
Social Media: Twitter = @ULRaginCajuns, Facebook = facebook.com/ragincajunsathletics

STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: LHP Ryan Wilson (UL) vs. LHP Austin Clay (WKU)
Saturday: RHP Austin Robichaux (UL) vs. RHP Andrew Edwards (WKU)
Sunday: LHP Cody Boutte (UL) vs. LHP Tim Bado (WKU)

PLAY BALL
The Ragin' Cajuns baseball team concludes a seven-game road swing – the longest stretch of road games in 2013 – with a three-game Sun Belt series at WKU set for Easter Weekend (March 29-31). The Cajuns look to break a three-game Sun Belt losing skid which began last weekend at Middle Tennessee.

SWEEPSTAKES
In the first two weekends of Sun Belt Conference action, Louisiana has swept the opposition (ULM) and been swept by the opposition (Middle Tennessee).

ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR ROBICHAUX
Head coach Tony Robichaux will coach his 500th career Sun Belt Conference game on Friday in the WKU series opener. Robichaux brings a 307-192 record (.615) in SBC play into the WKU series.

NEXT STOP: NASHVILLE
On Thursday, the Cajuns fly to Nashville for the second straight week to take part in a Sun Belt series. This time, the squad travels north on I-65 to Bowling Green, Ky., to face WKU. Last weekend, UL flew into Nashville and headed south to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to face Middle Tennessee.

HICKS CAN STAND ALONE
Matt Hicks' next save will make him the Ragin' Cajuns' all-time leader. The junior from Bridge City, Texas, tied the school career record with his 12th career save on Tuesday at SLU. He's in a three-way tie with Kraig Schambough who set the standard from 2002-05 and Justin Robichaux who equaled the mark from 2007-10.

HALFWAY HOME
The WKU series wraps up Week 7 of the 2013 season, bringing an end to the first half of the season. The second half begins next week with a midweek tilt against McNeese State at “The Tigue” (April 2).

THE WKU SERIES (Louisiana leads 41-24)
Series began in 1992 at the Sun Belt Tournament and became an annual meeting when the SBC moved away from divisional scheduling in 1995. The Cajuns have won 13 of the 19 all-time weekend sets (68 percent). UL and WKU have split the previous 24 matchups at Nick Denes Field. WKU has won the last four series in Bowling Green (2003, 2005, 2008, 2011). The Cajuns last series win at Nick Denes came in 2001.

QUICK RESET
The Cajuns erased a 3-0 deficit and turned the tables on Southeastern Louisiana with seven runs over the middle innings and as a result ended a nine-game losing streak to the Lions with a 9-6 victory on Tuesday in Hammond. The win also snapped a three-game losing streak that began last weekend at Middle Tennessee. Matt Hicks pitched the final 3 2/3 innings to collect his school-record tying 12th save of his career.

LAST WEKEEND
Louisiana was swept in its first road Sun Belt series by Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders scored 10 unanswered runs to overcome a 5-2 lead the Cajuns had built by scoring in four of their first five at bats. MT claimed the Friday matchup 12-5. On Saturday, the Blue Raiders broke open a two-run game by scoring three runs in the seventh inning and withstood a bases loaded jam in the ninth to post a 7-5 win. MT completed the sweep on Sunday, answering a three-run home run by UL's Caleb Adams in the sixth inning with back-to-back home runs off of Cody Boutte in the bottom half to reclaim the lead on the way to a 9-3 victory. Cajuns pitching had a series ERA of 9.75 and gave up eight home runs equaling the amount allowed entering the series.

CLOSING THE DOOR
Matt Hicks made it 8-for-8 in save situations, closing out Tuesday's win at SLU. It was his eighth save of 2013, moving him within one of tying the single season record nine set by Justin Robichaux in 2008.

A “PACK” OF HITTERS
Louisiana already has 12 hitters reach double digit hits, ranging from 10 to 28 hits. Seven hitters have produced double figure RBI.

“AUT”OMATIC
In four of his six starts in 2013, sophomore pitcher Austin Robichaux has held the opposition to four hits or less.

LOOK OUT FOR TYLER
Tyler Girouard carries a nine-game hitting streak into the WKU series. Girouard is Louisiana's hottest hitter in March, having hit .457 since the beginning of the month (21-of-46) with 12 runs scored and 14 RBI.

POWER SURGE
Caleb Adams leads the Cajuns with six home runs, all coming in the month of March. He's also drive home 18 runs in the month to take over the team lead with 21 RBI.

KEEP AN EYE ON DEX
Dex Kjerstad has posted a multi-hit outing in each of the Cajuns last five games, a streak that dates back to last Tuesday's game vs. Southern. During the streak, Kjerstad is batting 12-of-25 (.480) and slugging .800.

THIS 'N THAT

Tyler Girouard's .435 average (27-of-62) is tops in the Sun Belt Conference. His average climbed above .400 after the opening game of the ULM series (March 15)
Cody Boutte tallied five strikeouts for the fourth time in six starts during his outing at Middle Tennessee last Sunday. Boutte leads the Cajuns pitching staff with 26 strikeouts
Eight saves for Matt Hicks marks a new personal single-season best (previous was four in 2012)
A combined 12 runs were scored in the pitching-dominated series between UL and WKU last season at “The Tigue”. Cajuns pitching limited WKU hitters to a .181 average
Louisiana pitching has held the opposing team to five runs or fewer 13 times. Dating back to 2011, Cajuns pitching has limited foes to five runs or less 81 times out of 135 games
Louisiana's 21 home runs eclipse the total of 18 hit during the 2012 season (53 games); the Cajuns surpassed the 2012 total in the season's 21st game
Tony Robichaux is one of 22 active Division I head coaches with 900 career victories at the Division I level (912-622-1)
The Ragin' Cajuns hold a +44 run differential over the opposition outscoring foes 162-118. Louisiana owns seven victories of six-plus runs
Tyler Girouard's batting average during his current nine-game hitting streak is .529 (18-for-34)
Seth Harrison tops the team with 21 runs. He leads with the Cajuns with five bunt singles and is third with seven multi-hit games
Dex Kjerstad has hit leadoff in 19 of 22 appearances. He enters the WKU series having hit safely 10 of his last 11 appearances.
Tyler Girouard's nine-game hit streak is the longest of his career (hitting .529). Previous best hit streak was seven games from April 21-May 4, 2012. Girouard ranks Top 15 nationally in batting average
Blake Trahan is the only true freshman in starting lineup. All 23 of his starts have come at shortstop
Blake Trahan's batting average has been above .300 since Feb. 20.
Jace Conrad has only six strikeouts in 87 plate appearances and has reached base 19 of 22 games played. The Lafayette native ranks second with 17 runs scored.
Chase Compton needs six hits to reach 100 career hits. His 102 career games played leads all position players.
Michael Strentz has been the starting catcher in 19 of team's 24 games. Half of his hits have gone for extra bases (11 of 22).
Caleb Adams has three games with three RBI. He ranks Top 25 nationally in home runs

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Close Out Road Trip With Sun Belt Series at WKU

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Cajuns Close Out Road Trip With Sun Belt Series at WKU

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