Louisiana Opens Eight-Game Homestand With Georgia Southern Series

THE WEEKEND SERIES
Dates: Friday-Sunday, May 5-7, 2017
Location: Lafayette, La.
Site: M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park (4,650)
Times: 6:00 p.m. (Fri) | 6:00 p.m. (Sat) | 12:00 p.m. (Sun)
Opponent: Georgia Southern (30-15, 13-8 Sun Belt)
Radio: News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM
Television: None
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com

STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: LHP Gunner Leger (LA) vs. LHP Evan Challenger (GS)
Saturday: LHP Colten Schmidt (LA) vs. RHP Chase Cohen (GS)
Sunday: LHP Hogan Harris (LA) vs. RHP Seth Shuman (GS)

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team will look to bounce back from its first series loss in over a year as the Cajuns open an eight-game homestand with a three-game series against conference foe Georgia Southern starting Friday at 6 p.m. at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

Game two of the series is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, while the series finale has been bumped up to a noon start on Sunday due to travel plans for Georgia Southern (30-15, 13-8 Sun Belt).

Fans can listen to all three contests live on News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM with Jay Walker on the call. There will also be live stats and a free live video stream available on RaginCajuns.com with Dan McDonald providing play-by-play.

The Ragin' Cajuns (27-17-1, 13-7-1 Sun Belt) had their season-best nine-game win streak come to an end last weekend at UT Arlington dropping all three games in a series for the first time since 2013.

Junior Gunner Leger (8-2, 1.63 ERA) will return to the Friday night starter slot after being pushed back a couple days last weekend at UTA. Leger is 5-0 with a 0.52 ERA in five starts at Russo Park this season allowing just two runs on 18 hits in 34.2 innings.

The Cajuns will tab junior left-hander Colten Schmidt (1-0, 1.00 ERA) to make his first career start in his home debut on Saturday, while sophomore left-hander Hogan Harris (3-1, 2.63 ERA) will close out the series on the mound for Louisiana.

Georgia Southern has moved senior left-hander Evan Challenger (2-4, 4.29 ERA) back into the Friday night spot in the rotation this weekend. The Eagles will send sophomore right-hander Chase Cohen (3-3, 4.11 ERA) to the bump on Saturday, while Seth Shuman (4-0, 3.90 ERA) will make the start in the series finale.

Offensively, the Ragin' Cajuns are tied for fifth in the SBC in average hitting .274 with 76 doubles, 13 triples and 30 home runs. Junior Steven Sensley ranks tenth in the Sun Belt with a .329 average. Sensley has driven in a team-best 33 runs on 51 hits including nine doubles, two triples and eight home runs while reaching base in 14 straight contests. Senior Joe Robbins is second on the squad with 32 RBI and has reached base in 12 straight games.

The Cajuns hold a slight 4-3 edge in the series with Georgia Southern after taking three of the four decisions a year ago. The last meeting between the two programs came in the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game with Louisiana defeating the Eagles 5-0 behind a strong performance on the mound by Wyatt Marks and Dylan Moore. Georgia Southern has won the only series played in Lafayette taking two out of three games in 2015.

The Eagles have won seven of their last eight games bouncing back from a series opening loss to Little Rock at home 11-4 to win 5-0 and 9-2 to claim the series. Georgia Southern picked up a pair of big midweek wins against Mercer last week winning 15-7 and 4-3 to jump into the top 100 in the RPI.

Georgia Southern ranks third in the Sun Belt in hitting with a .280 average including 67 doubles, five triples, 28 home runs. Freshman Mason McWhorter paces the Eagles offensively hitting .336 with 10 doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI. Senior Ryan Cleveland ranks third in the SBC with 11 home runs and has a team-best 38 RBI.

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 Opens Eight-Game Homestand With Georgia Southern Series

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Players Mentioned

Hogan Harris

Gunner Leger

Wyatt Marks

Dylan Moore

Joe Robbins

Colten Schmidt

Steven Sensley

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