Cajuns Come Up Short Against No. 8 LSU At Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic

METAIRIE, La. – A three-run fourth inning for LSU was the difference on Tuesday night as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team came up short 3-2 against the eighth-ranked Tigers in front of a record crowd of 9,963 at the annual Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic at the Shrine on Airline.

"Jack (Burk) threw a great ballgame and we played good defense behind him," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "We just couldn't get the critical hit at the critical time. We had a couple strikeouts with runners in scoring position where we needed to put the ball into play. They put the ball into play when it mattered, and that's the difference in this game."

Freshman Jack Burk (2-4) was handed his four loss of the year despite limiting the Tigers (23-11) to three runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts in six innings of work.

"I give Jack a lot of credit because he gave us a chance to win. That's what we ask all of our starters to do. We don't care about losses as long as you go out and give us a chance to win. For a freshman to come into this environment and do that, it speaks a lot to what kind of competitor that he is."

Todd Peterson (2-1) picked up the victory for LSU tossing two scoreless innings in relief, while Hunter Newman added his fourth save of the year with a perfect ninth inning.

The Ragin' Cajuns (18-14-1) and Tigers each had eight hits in the game with shortstop Brad Antchak going 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI. Third baseman Joe Robbins also had a pair of hits and centerfielder Ishmael Edwards extended his hit streak to eight game with his single in the fifth inning.

Both Greg Deichmann and Nick Coomes had two hits on the night for the Tigers.

LSU threatened in the bottom of the first loading the bases with two outs, but Burk made an outstanding barehanded play on a ball hit back up the middle by third baseman Josh Smith to get out of the inning.

The Tigers broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth plating three runs on four singles to take a 3-0 edge. A two-out, two-run single back up the middle by shortstop Kramer Robertson highlighted the scoring in the inning.

The Cajuns didn't take long to answer though bringing home two runs in the top half of the fifth to cut the LSU lead to 3-2. Catcher Handsome Monica doubled home the first run of the inning sending a ball off of the wall in left field to score first baseman Tyler Stover. In the next at bat, Antchak singled up the middle to plate designated hitter Todd Lott, but Robertson made a tremendous stop on the Antchak single and then gunned down Monica at the plate to keep the Tigers in the lead.

Burk flirted with danger in the bottom half of the fifth as Deichmann doubled off of the wall in right field to leadoff the inning and then moved to third on a Jordan Romero fly ball to right. Antchak came up big defensive as he cut down Deichmann at the plate on ball hit to shortstop with the infield drawn in by Zach Watson to keep the score 3-2.

The Cajuns had scoring chances in both the sixth and seventh innings putting a runner on third base with less than two outs, but both times LSU got a key strikeout to keep the one-run lead. Louisiana saw just one runner reach base in the final two frames as Monica flew out to right field to end the contest.

The Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Thursday at 6 p.m. as they host Arkansas State in a three-game conference series at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

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

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Next Event

Team Stats

Joe Robbins

Brad Antchak

Ishmael Edwards

Brenn Conrad

Players Mentioned

Brad Antchak

Jack Burk

Ishmael Edwards

Todd Lott

Handsome Monica

Joe Robbins

Tyler Stover