Cajuns Baseball Looks For Sixth Straight Series Win

THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, April 29-May 1, 2016
Location: Arlington, Texas
Site: Clay Gould Ballpark (1,600)
Times: 6:30 p.m. (Fri) | 2:00 p.m. (Sat) | 1:00 p.m. (Sun)
Opponent: UT Arlington (22-20, 8-10 Sun Belt)
Radio: News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM
Television: None
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com

STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: LHP Gunner Leger (UL) vs. RHP Kadon Simmons (UTA)
Saturday: RHP Wyatt Marks (UL) vs. RHP Joel Kuhnel (UTA)
Sunday: RHP Nick Lee (UL) vs. LHP Jake Wilcox (UTA)

ARLINGTON, Texas – The 20th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team will look to capture its sixth straight series win this weekend as the squad heads to UT Arlington for a three-game series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Clay Gould Ballpark.

Game two of the series is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday, while the two teams close out the weekend with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.

All three games will be broadcast live on News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM with Jay Walker and Jeff Schneider making the call. Live stats and video are available on RaginCajuns.com.

The Ragin' Cajuns (27-15, 12-6 Sun Belt) have lost two straight coming into the series dropping midweek contests to No. 14 Southern Miss 7-2 and Louisiana Tech 6-3. Louisiana claimed its fifth straight series win and eighth of the season after taking two of three from Texas State last weekend at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

The Cajuns will go with the same rotation that they have used for most of the season with left-hander Gunner Leger (5-2, 2.43 ERA) taking the mound Friday, while right-handers Wyatt Marks (3-5, 4.91 ERA) and Nick Lee (6-1, 2.63 ERA) close out the weekend on the bump. All three starters posted a quality start last weekend against the Bobcats.

Leger has a quality start in his last three outings picking up wins in the last two. Both Leger and Lee rank in the top 10 in the Sun Belt in ERA, while Lee ranks second in opponent's batting average with teams hitting just .199 off of the freshman. Leger is fourth with a .206 opponent's average.

Offensively, the Cajuns are hitting .261 as a team with 71 doubles, six triples and 30 home runs. Senior Kyle Clement has a team-best .368 average as he is on a seven game hit streak. Clement has hit .500 (10-for-20) with four walks in the last two weeks.

Louisiana has three players with 20-plus RBI this season led by Brian Mills with 26. Joe Robbins is second with 25, while Brenn Conrad is third with 24.

The Ragin' Cajuns hold a 27-14 all-time series edge over UT Arlington having won the last five meetings between the two teams. The Cajuns and Mavericks have met eight times in the last two seasons with Louisiana going 7-1 including two wins at the Sun Belt Conference tournament. The Ragin' Cajuns won the last meeting 5-1 in an elimination game at the SBC tournament in Troy last year.

UT Arlington (22-20, 8-10 Sun Belt) has lost four of its last six despite winning a series at Troy last weekend. The Mavericks dropped a 7-3 decision to Texas A&M in the midweek. UTA bounced back from a 5-2 loss in the series opener at Troy to win 18-5 and 4-2 and take the series.

Junior right-hander Kadon Simmons (7-3, 2.97 ERA) will make the start for the Mavs on Friday. UT Arlington will send another junior right-hander out to the bump on Saturday in Joel Kuhnel (4-2, 1.88 ERA). Left-hander Jake Wilcox (3-3, 4.42 ERA) is slated to close out the series on the mound for the Mavericks.

UTA ranks third in the Sun Belt hitting .293 with 74 doubles, 15 triples and 17 home runs. Brady Cox paces the squad hitting .375 with nine doubles, two home runs and 34 RBI. Cox is one of five Mavs that are hitting over .300 this season.

Following the series with UT Arlington, the Cajuns will take the midweek off for finals before hosting Appalachian State in a three-game series at The Tigue next weekend starting Friday at 6 p.m.

For updates and info on Ragin' Cajuns baseball, follow the team on twitter @CajunsBaseball or check RaginCajuns.com.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Baseball Looks For Sixth Straight Series Win

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Clement

Brenn Conrad

Nick Lee

Gunner Leger

Wyatt Marks

Brian Mills

Joe Robbins

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