Louisiana Faces FIU in Sun Belt Tournament Opener at "The Tigue"

Contact: Matt Hebert

Game Notes (PDF)

THE SUN BELT TOURNAMENT
Dates: Wednesday-Sunday, May 22-26, 2013
Location: Lafayette, La.
Site: M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field (3,755)
Bracket Opponents: South Alabama (40-16), FIU (25-30), UALR (28-26)
First Round Game: May 22 vs. FIU | 7:30 p.m.
Radio: News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM and SportsRadio ESPN 1420-AM
TV: None
Live Stats/Video: www.SunBeltSports.org
Social Media: Twitter = @ULRaginCajuns, Facebook = facebook.com/ragincajunsathletics

STARTING PITCHER
Wednesday: LHP Cody Boutte (UL) vs. RHP Mike Franco (FIU)

PLAY BALL
The Ragin' Cajuns are set to participate in the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field beginning on Wednesday, May 22. Louisiana opens tournament action against FIU in a 7:30 p.m. contest. This is the fifth time “The Tigue” serves as host with previous tournaments held in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2008.

CAJUNS IN THE SUN BELT TOURNAMENT
Louisiana is making its 19th appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Cajuns all-time record in the event is 31-35. UL seeks to snap a seven-game losing streak in SBC Tournament play. The program's last victory came in 2009 at Troy.

LOUISIANA vs. FIU IN SUN BELT TOURNAMENT
UL and FIU meet in the Sun Belt Tournament for the sixth time with the Panthers holding a 3-2 edge in the postseason event. Previous SBC Tournament meetings took place in Monroe, La. (2011), Troy, Ala. (2009), Mobile, Ala. (2000) and Metairie, La. (1999). In the last SBC Tournament meeting, the Panthers defeated the Cajuns 11-8 in 10 innings in the final game of pool play of the 2011 SBC Tournament at Warhawk Field in Monroe.

THE QUEST FOR 40
The Cajuns will enter postseason play just two wins shy of reaching 40 victories for the first time since 2007 (45-17).

BIG NUMBERS IN 2013
The Cajuns' five-spot in the ninth inning of Friday's game at ULM vaulted the team past 400 runs (402 actual) giving the program the first season of 400-plus runs since 2007. Louisiana's 17 hits that night pushed the season total to 602 marking the first season with 600-plus hits since 2007.

POWERFUL BATS
Louisiana enters the postseason needing just four home runs to reach 70 home runs for the first time since 2007.

A RUN-PRODUCING FACTORY
All nine starters in the lineup have tallied at least 20 RBI. Ryan Leonards' next RBI will give UL eight of nine starters with 30-plus RBI.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Louisiana finished 25-7 at “The Tigue” during the regular season dropping consecutive games only twice during the 32-game slate. The South Alabama series loss marked the only time in eight weekends the Cajuns lost a series at “The Tigue”

DOUBLE FIGURES IS A LOCK
The Cajuns enter the postseason with a remarkable 30-3 record when posting double digit hits. Louisiana is undefeated (15-0) when plating double figure runs.

BASES NOTED
Louisiana has won the SBC Tournament only once in 21 previous seasons in the league, claiming the 1998 event in Mobile...Louisiana is coming off a sweep of ULM which completed the season sweep of the Warhawks (swept at “The Tigue” in March and Warhawk Field last weekend)…The Cajuns claimed the series in 11 of 14 weekends during the 2013 season... Dex Kjerstad became the first Cajun with 80-plus hits since Jonathan Lucroy posted 95 in 2007…Kjerstad ended the regular season as the Sun Belt leader in average with his .377 average just ahead of teammate Tyler Girouard's .376… Chase Compton delivered a pair of game-changing base hits during the Ragin' Cajuns sweep of ULM at Warhawk Field…In the middle game of the series he broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning with a grand slam home run...He changed the complexion of a contest a second straight night when he laced a bases-clearing triple into right center field to stretch the Cajuns lead to 8-0 in the series finale...Caleb Adams ended the regular season as the team leader in home runs with 13 and team leader in RBI with 46…Adams ranks second in the SBC in home runs trailing only Troy's Trae Santos and WKU's Ryan Huck (15)... Louisiana collected double digit hits all three games of the ULM series increasing the season total to 33.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Louisiana Faces FIU in Sun Belt Tournament Opener at "The Tigue"

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