Cajuns Travel to Houston on Tuesday for Final Midweek Game

Contact: Matt Hebert

Game Notes (PDF)

THE MIDWEEK GAME
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Location: Houston, Texas
Site: Cougar Field (3,500)
Time: 6:30 p.m
Opponent: Houston (27-17)
Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1420-AM
TV: None
Internet Broadcast Link: ESPN 1420-AM
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com
Social Media: Twitter = @ULRaginCajuns, Facebook = facebook.com/ragincajunsathletics

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
RHP Matt Plitt (UL) vs. TBA (UH)

PLAY BALL
Two teams that have gone through the month of April in opposite directions meet on the diamond at Cougar Field in Houston on Tuesday, April 30 in a 6:30 p.m. contest. Louisiana is 12-6 in April, while the Cougars have slumped to a 4-11 mark in the month. The matchup marks the final midweek game of the season or Louisiana.

FINE TUNED HITTING MACHINE
As a team, the Cajuns have collected double digit hits in 12 of the last 18 games and 26 games overall. UL is hitting .337 and slugging .552 as a collective unit since April 1.

TOP-TO-BOTTOM PRODUCTION
All but one of the Cajuns nine hitters in the starting lineup has contributed 20-plus RBI – Tyler Girouard and Michael Strentz top the club with 33 RBI and they're followed closely by Caleb Adams (32), Dex Kjerstad (30), Dylan Butler (27) and Seth Harrison (27).

BUTLER'S BOUNCE BACK
Dylan Butler finished 12-for-22 (.545) in the recent five-game week upping his April batting average to .478 (22-of-46). The recent hot streak has helped him reclaim a spot in the starting lineup. Butler entered April with a .220 average.

BAYOU BOMBERS
UL has homered at least once in eight straight games dating back to the FAU series opener on April 19. The Cajuns reached 50 home runs for the first time since 2009 on Sunday at FIU when Dex Kjerstad homered in the sixth inning.

HOMECOMING
Tuesday's trip to Houston marks a return to the home state of Texas for the following Cajuns: Caleb Adams (Texarkana), Seth Harrison (Cypress), Matt Hicks (Bridge City), Dex Kjerstad (Amarillo), Matt Plitt (Texas City), Logan Preston (Texarkana), Kody Smith (Orange).

THE HOUSTON SERIES (UH leads 36-12-1)
The home team has won the last seven meetings. Louisiana has won the last two meetings, overall. UL ended the Cougars' seven-game win streak in the series with a 6-1 win on March 3, 2009 at “The Tigue and claimed the last meeting 3-1 on March 6, 2012 also at “The Tigue”. UL's last win over the Cougars in Houston came on May 30, 1999, a 19-8 victory in the NCAA Houston Regional championship game. The Cajuns-Cougars series dates back to 1948, a time before Louisiana joined Division I (joined in 1972). The only decade the programs haven't met since that time was the 1960s. The Cajuns appear at Cougar Field for the first time since 2009. Teams were scheduled to meet in Houston on May 15, 2012, but inclement weather canceled the contest.

BASES NOTED
Matt Plitt gets this third midweek start (4/10 at NSU; 4/24 vs. SLU)...Last week, Plitt tossed eight innings in a 6-3 win over Southeastern Louisiana...In his two previous midweek starts this month, Plitt has pitched a combined 14 innings and allowed just three runs and 11 hits...After Tuesday's contest, Louisiana returns home to begin the final homestand of the regular season, a six-game stretch that features weekend series with Arkansas State (May 3-5) and South Alabama (May 10-12)...The Ragin' Cajuns hit .357 and sported a .652 slugging percentage as they pounded out 17 extra base hits (eight doubles, one triple, eight home runs) in the FIU series…Louisiana hit above .350 in a Sun Belt series for the fourth straight weekend (Troy, UALR, FAU, FIU)... In the FIU finale the Cajuns clubbed a season-high five home runs, marking the most since hitting five at UNO on May 16, 2009...Cajuns pitching turned in a sub-4.00 ERA for a second straight weekend as the staff ERA for the FIU series was 3.29...Saturday's win at FIU was the 30th of the season, giving the Cajuns 30 victories for the 14th time in 19 seasons under Tony Robichaux's direction...UL ranks first in the Sun Belt Conference in average (.318), slugging percentage (.496), on-base percentage (.400), base hits (500), home runs (51) and total bases (779)...Cody Boutte pitched a complete game for the second straight weekend as he tossed all nine innings and held FIU to five hits in a 9-1 series-evening victory on Saturday…Boutte pitched 8 2/3 consecutive innings of scoreless baseball and was one out away from a shutout.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Travel to Houston on Tuesday for Final Midweek Game

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