Louisiana Begins Season's Final Homestand on Friday

Contact: Matt Hebert

Game Notes (PDF)

THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, May 3-5, 2013
Location: Lafayette, La.
Site: M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field (3,755)
Times: 6:00 p.m. (Fri) | 6:00 p.m. (Sat) | 1:00 p.m. (Sun)
Opponent: Arkansas State (24-21, 10-11 Sun Belt)
Radio: News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and SportsRadio ESPN 1420-AM (Friday)
TV: MyKLAF (Saturday only)
Internet Broadcast Link: 96.5 KPEL-FM and ESPN 1420-AM
Live Stats: www.RaginCajuns.com
Social Media: Twitter = @ULRaginCajuns, Facebook = facebook.com/ragincajunsathletics

STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: RHP Austin Robichaux (UL) vs. RHP Daniel Wright (ASTATE)
Saturday: LHP Cody Boutte (UL) vs. RHP Bradley Wallace (ASTATE)
Sunday: TBA (UL) vs. RHP Cody Woodhouse (ASTATE)

PLAY BALL
Louisiana begins its final home homestand of the 2013 regular season hosting Arkansas State Friday-Sunday, May 3-5 at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field. The ASU series marks the first of back-to-back weekends at “The Tigue” that comprises the six-game stretch. The Cajuns will wrap up the homestand Friday-Sunday, May 10-12 vs. South Alabama.

WHERE THEY STAND
The Ragin' Cajuns enter the ASU series – and the final month of the season – trailing South Alabama by three games for first place in the Sun Belt standings. UL is at home the next two weekends, the latter weekend a three-game series with USA.

WINNING THE WEEKEND
Louisiana has claimed the weekend series from the opposition in nine of the 11 series. The FIU series win marked the fourth straight series win for the Cajuns after dropping back-to-back sets to Middle Tennessee and WKU in late-March.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
As the postseason approaches, the Ragin' Cajuns hope to parlay proven success at “The Tigue” (21-5 entering ASU series) into an NCAA postseason berth. Six of the final nine regular season games, plus the Sun Belt Tournament (May 22-26), are at “The Tigue”.

FINE TUNED HITTING MACHINE
UL is coming off a red-hot month of April. The Cajuns hit .328 and slugged .539 as a collective unit during the month. Louisiana posted double digit hits in 12 of 19 games and launched 30 home runs.

FINE TUNED HITTING MACHINE (Part 2)
Louisiana has hit above .350 in a Sun Belt series each of the last four weekends (Troy, UALR, FAU, FIU).

REDISCOVERING THE MAGIC
The 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. That followed up an ERA of 2.88 in the FAU series which marked the staff's lowest weekend series ERA since a 2.00 ERA during the ULM series March 15-17.

TOP-TO-BOTTOM PRODUCTION
All but one of the Cajuns nine hitters in the 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 (28) and Blake Trahan (28).

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

THE TURNAROUND
After ranking near the bottom in most offensive categories in 2012, the Cajuns have climbed the ladder in 2013. After 11 weeks of play Louisiana ranked Top 3 in the Sun Belt Conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, doubles, triples, home runs and total bases.

A “PACK” OF HITTERS
Louisiana's starting lineup features all nine hitters with 30-plus hits, ranging from 36 to 65 hits, and eight with a season average above .300.

THE ARKANSAS STATE SERIES (Louisiana leads 68-36)
This is the Cajuns' second-oldest series amongst all Sun Belt teams, trailing only the 121 all-time meetings with ULM. UL leads the all-time series 68-36, including a 31-14 mark at “The Tigue”. The two programs were conference rivals in the Southland (1972-82), American South (1988-91) and presently the Sun Belt since 1992. Arkansas State has claimed the last three series at “The Tigue” (2008, 2010 & 2012). UL's last series victory at “The Tigue” came in 2007. Overall, the Red Wolves have won 13 of the past 18 meetings (dates back to 2007 series finale). The Cajuns are 37-25 vs. ASU in the Tony Robichaux Era (20-12 at “The Tigue”).

QUICK RESET
The Cajuns dropped their lone midweek game as Houston took a 6-4 victory on Tuesday at Cougar Field. The UH bullpen matched the Cajuns bullpen over the final four innings to make an early six-run lead stand. Houston registered three-run innings in the first and third inning to lay claim to a 6-0 advantage. Relievers Cord Cockrell, Ben Frith, Kendall Mayer and Matt Hicks tossed a combined 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball while Louisiana chipped away, eventually cutting the Cougars lead to 6-4.

LAST WEEKEND
The Cajuns posted their first series win over FIU since the 2007 season, taking 2-of-3 in Miami. The Panthers won the opener 7-6 in 11 innings on a walk-off, bases-loaded single by Josh Anderson. The Cajuns offense piled up multiple runs each of the first four innings and Cody Boutte came within an out of a shutout as UL won the middle game 9-1. On Sunday, Louisiana run-ruled FIU 14-4 in eight innings on the strength of nine extra base hits (five home runs).

THIS 'N THAT

UL ranks first nationally in slugging percentage (.491), home runs (52), home runs per game (1.13). The last time a Sun Belt school led the nation in home runs was 2004 when New Mexico State's 115 earned top billing.
Austin Robichaux leads the Cajuns pitching staff with six quality starts. He has worked seven complete innings in six of his past seven starts.
Blake Trahan's home run at Houston marked the ninth (9th) straight game the Cajuns homered, a streak that dates back to the FAU series opener (April 19).
Ten (10) saves for Matt Hicks is a new school single-season record and ranks Top 20 nationally.
Dex Kjerstad tops the Cajuns with 20 multiple-hit games. The former Texas Longhorn produced multiple-hits in 11 of 19 games played in April.
Counting his two-year junior college stint (one season at both LSU-Shreveport and LSU-Eunice), Cody Boutte has recorded 23 career victories.
The Cajuns have scored first 26 times in 46 contests leading to 19 of the season's 31 victories (19-7 record).
Entering Week 12 the Ragin' Cajuns were one of only 32 Division I schools (296 total) with a team batting average above .300. UL ranked 8th with a team average of .318.
The Ragin' Cajuns hold a +94 run differential over the opposition outscoring foes 324-230. Louisiana owns 13 victories of six-plus runs.
Louisiana's 52 home runs eclipse the total of 18 hit during the 2012 season (53 games); it's the first season with 50-plus home runs since 2009 (51 in 58 games).
Louisiana has cranked out 167 extra base hits which ranks first in the Sun Belt (Troy ranks second with 162).
Dylan Butler was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Monday. He hit .545 with six extra base hits last week.
Dylan Butler has posted multiple hits in seven of the last 11 games. Over half of his hits this season have gone for extra bases (19 of 36).
Seth Harrison has hit safely in 33 of 41 games played and tops the team with five home runs in Sun Belt Conference games.
Dex Kjerstad leads with the Cajuns with 65 hits and is tied for the lead with nine home runs.
Tyler Girouard leads the Sun Belt Conference in batting average (.385). He needs 17 hits to reach 100 career hits.
Tyler Girouard is the team leader in slugging percentage (.680) and on-base percentage (.479). His 33 RBI are a personal single-season best.
Freshman Blake Trahan enters the Arkansas State series on a season-best seven-game hit streak.
Blake Trahan has produced the third-most hits (50) and is perfect in stolen bases (10-for-10).
Ryan Leonards needs one base hit to reach 50 for a second straight season. He is second on the squad with a .397 average in conference play.
Jace Conrad is three hits shy of 100 career hits. He took over at first base on April 21. Conrad started the season at second base (31 of 38 starts).
Michael Strentz is on pace to become first Cajun with 20 doubles since 2006 (Jonathan Lucroy). Over half of hits for have gone for extra bases (23 of 45) and he leads the Cajuns with 17 doubles.
Claeb Adams is hitting a combined .588 over the last two weekend series (10-of-17). He is tied with Dex Kjerstad for the team lead with nine home runs (hit six HR in March).

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Louisiana Begins Season's Final Homestand on Friday

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Louisiana Begins Season's Final Homestand on Friday

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