Cajuns Baseball Faces South Alabama In Matchup Of Sun Belt Leaders

THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, May 13-15, 2016
Location: Mobile, Ala.
Site: Eddie Stanky Field (4,500)
Times: 6:30 p.m. (Fri) | 6:30 p.m. (Sat) | 1:00 p.m. (Sun)
Opponent: South Alabama (36-14, 19-5 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 Kevin Hill (USA)
Saturday: RHP Nick Lee (UL) vs. RHP Randy Bell (USA)
Sunday: TBA (UL) vs. RHP Austin Bembnowski (USA)

MOBILE, Ala. – The 21st-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team continues a five-game road trip this weekend as the Cajuns face South Alabama in a three-game series at Eddie Stanky Field that pits the top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference against each other.

First pitch of the series opener is slated for 6:30 p.m. on Fright night. The two teams will meet again Saturday at 6:30 p.m. before closing out the weekend with the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Fans can listen to the series 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 Jaguars (36-14, 19-5 Sun Belt) currently sit atop the league standings, three games ahead of the Cajuns (31-18, 16-8 Sun Belt), with six conference games remaining this season.

Both South Alabama and Louisiana are in the hunt for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament with the Jaguars sitting at No. 39 in the latest NCAA RPI, while the Ragin' Cajuns are 18 spots higher at No. 21 on the list.

Louisiana is coming off of a 3-2 loss to Houston in a non-conference midweek game to open the five-game road swing. The Ragin' Cajuns have won 10 of their 11 series this year including seven straight after taking two of three from Appalachian State last weekend.

The series with the Jaguars features the top two pitching staffs in the league. Louisiana tops the Sun Belt with a 3.31 ERA through 49 games. South Alabama has a 3.37 ERA with a league-best 36 victories.

The Cajuns will send left-hander Gunner Leger (6-3, 2.44 ERA) to the mound Friday night, while freshman Nick Lee (6-1, 3.02 ERA) will make the start Saturday. The Ragin' Cajuns have not announced a starter or the series finale.

Senior right-hander Kevin Hill (8-1, 2.23 ERA), the 2016 Preseason Pitcher of the Year, will make the start for the Jaguars on the mound Friday. Hill leads the league with four complete games and 107 strikeouts in 96.2 innings pitched. Right-handers Randy Bell (5-1, 2.97 ERA) and Austin Bembnowski (6-1, 3.16 ERA) close out the series on the bump for the Jaguars.

The Ragin' Cajuns trail South Alabama 60-43 in the all-time series despite having won eight of the last ten meetings. The two teams split four games a year ago, but Louisiana came away with the biggest victory in the series taking a 5-1 decision from the Jaguars in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game. The Cajuns are 39-40 against South Alabama with head coach Tony Robichaux at the helm.

Offensively, the Cajuns are hitting .269 as a team with 90 doubles, eight triples and 33 home runs. Senior Kyle Clement continues to place Louisiana at the plate hitting .360 with 11 doubles and 14 RBI. Senior Brian Mills has a team-best 34 RBI with a .295 average, seven doubles and four home runs.

South Alabama is hitting .274 on the season with 82 doubles, 11 triples and 26 home runs in 50 games. The Jags are averaging 6.6 runs per game as nine players on the squad have posted 24-plus RBI this year. Drew LaBounty leads the club hitting .317 with 11 doubles and 38 RBI, while Danny Martinez has driven in a team-best 46 runs on seven doubles, a triple and three home runs.

Following the series with South Alabama, the Cajuns will close out their five-game road swing on Tuesday at 6 p.m. as the squad heads to New Orleans.

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

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Baseball Faces South Alabama In Matchup Of Sun Belt Leaders

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Clement

Nick Lee

Gunner Leger

Brian Mills

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