Louisiana To Open 2017 Home Slate Against Southern Miss

THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, March 3-5, 2017
Location: Lafayette, La.
Site: M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park
Times: 6:00 p.m. (Fri) | 2:00 p.m. (Sat) | 1:00 p.m. (Sun)
Opponent: Southern Miss (7-1)
Radio: News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM
Television: None
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com

STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: LHP Gunner Leger (LA) vs. RHP Hayden Roberts (USM)
Saturday: RHP Nick Lee (LA) vs. LHP Kirk McCarty (USM)
Sunday: RHP Evan Guillory (LA) vs. RHP Cody Carroll (USM)

LAFAYETTE, La. – The 16th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team and Southern Miss are set to meet in the sixth series between the squads since 2009 as the Ragin' Cajuns open the 2017 home slate at the newly renovated M.L. "Tigue" Moore Park at Russo Field on Friday. First pitch of the series opener is slated for 6 p.m.

Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m., while the series wraps up on Sunday at 1 p.m. The first 2,000 fans in attendance for Friday night's contest will receive a commemorative Russo Park construction hat compliments of The Lemoine Company.

Fans can listen to all three contests on News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM with Jay Walker calling the action. Live stats and video are available on RaginCauns.com.

Individual game tickets will be available for each contest throughout the year with the Russo Park ticket office opening 90 minutes prior to first pitch each day.

Due to construction, only the entrance located at the corner of Stadium Dr. and Reinhardt Dr. will be used for the Southern Miss series. Fans are asked to be mindful of construction areas while attending games at Russo Park.

Additionally, for the first time there will be reserved parking for RCAF season ticket holders who have donated at least $250 to the annual fund in either 2016 or 2017. General Admission Parking will be available in the grass and on asphalt outside of the RCAF reserved lots. Tailgating will be allowed in general admission parking.

Fans are encouraged to enter through Gate 2 on Bertrand or Gate 3 on Congress to access parking for all home baseball games.

Louisiana (4-3) is coming off of an 8-6 victory over Northwestern State in 12 innings on Tuesday. The Ragin' Cajuns pitching staff set a single-game record with 20 strikeouts in the win. The Cajuns picked up their first series win of the season last week taking two of three games from Sam Houston State.

The Ragin' Cajuns will start junior left-hander Gunner Leger (1-1, 1.80 ERA) on Friday and sophomore right-hander Nick Lee (2-0, 0.69 ERA) on Saturday. Junior right-hander Evan Guillory (0-1 13.50 ERA) is set to close out the weekend on the mound for the Cajuns.

Southern Miss will counter with junior right-hander Hayden Roberts (0-0, 5.79 ERA) on Friday. Junior left-hander Kirk McCarty (2-0, 1.46 ERA) is slated to make the start on Saturday, while USM will close out the weekend with freshmen right-hander Cody Carroll (0-0, 8.59 ERA) on the bump.

Offensively, Louisiana is hitting .237 as a club led by senior Alex Pinero with a .423 average. Pinero is currently on a six-game hit streak and has a team-best three doubles, one home run and six RBI. Freshman Todd Lott and junior Kennon Fontenot also bring a pair of four-game hit streaks into the series.

The Cajuns lead the all-time series with the Golden Eagles holding a 24-20 edge. Louisiana has won five of the last six meetings between the two clubs, while the Ragin' Cajuns are 14-16 against Southern Miss including a 6-5 record in Lafayette since head coach Tony Robichaux took over the helm in 1995.

Southern Miss (7-1) has won four straight contests coming into the series after edging out Tulane 2-1 on Wednesday night. The Golden Eagles have swept both of their weekend series this season against Northeastern and Evansville. USM's only loss of 2017 came in a 12-5 midweek decision at Alabama.

The Golden Eagles are hitting .318 as a team through eight games led by sophomore Hunter Slater who has a .467 average, one triple, two home runs and 11 RBI. Senior Dylan Burdeaux owns four of Southern Miss' four home runs on the year while hitting .333 with 13 RBI.

Following the series with Southern Miss, Louisiana heads back on the road to face in-state rival Tulane in a 6:30 p.m. contest at Turchin Stadium on Tuesday.

For the latest updates on Ragin' Cajuns baseball, follow Ragin' Cajuns baseball on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Louisiana To Open 2017 Home Slate Against Southern Miss

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Players Mentioned

Kennon Fontenot

Evan Guillory

Nick Lee

Gunner Leger

Todd Lott

Alex Pinero

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