University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Baseball Set for Fall Exhibition at Mississippi State
10/4/2019 12:12:00 PM | Baseball
LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Baseball faces its first test of the fall season when travels to Starkville, Miss., on Saturday to face Mississippi State in two seven inning ball games starting at 1 p.m.
This is the first exhibition against another Division I baseball program in the 2019 fall slate and the first real time to get a glimpse of the entire fall roster.
There will be no live stream or live stats for the event. However, fans can follow along on Twitter at @RaginCajunsBSB.
LOUISIANA BASEBALL NOTES
-Louisiana is preparing for the 2020 season with 46 players on their roster. The number of newcomers outweighs the number of returners at 25 to 21. The Ragin' Cajuns will carry 25 pitchers, 12 infielders, six outfielders and three catchers on their fall roster.
-Matt Deggs is in his first season as the Louisiana Baseball head coach. Prior to becoming the head coach, Deggs was the skipper at Sam Houston State. While leading the Beakats, he posted an outstanding record of 187-118 (.613) with Southland Conference regular season championships in three of the last four seasons. Deggs also guided the Bearkats to a Super Regional in 2017, becoming the first-ever Southland program to accomplish the feat.
-Pitching Coach BJ Ryan is back with the Ragin' Cajuns, having played two years for Louisiana (1997-1998) and helping it earn its first Sun Belt Tournament Championship in 1998. Ryan also pitched 11 years in the MLB, earning All-Star appearances with the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.
-Out of the 530.2 total innings pitched last year, Louisiana returns 383.2 innings pitched this fall. Jacob Schultz and Austin Perrin are the returning leaders after each threw 65+ innings last season.
-What Louisiana returns in pitching, it loses in hitting. The Ragin' Cajuns only have three position players with 20 or more starts returning from last year. Those three are Hayden Cantrelle, Brennan Breaux and Tremaine Spears.
-Cantrelle is one of the more noteworthy players on the roster and around the Sun Belt. He was a Cape Cod League All-Star this past summer and a First Team All-Sun Belt Conference shortstop last spring. He had an incredible year at the plate, batting .309 with nine home runs and 31 RBIs. He also paced the conference in steals with 28.
-Breaux returns to Dudy Noble Field, but this time in a Louisiana uniform. Breaux had a great redshirt junior campaign, starting in 59 games and slashing .295/.426/.381. During the year, he recorded 16 multi-hit games and two four-hit games.
-RHP Carter Robinson joins the team after being named the NJCAA DII Baseball Pitcher of the Year while playing for Mesa CC.
-RHP Jason Nelson spent last year at Central Arizona College and was drafted in the 31st Round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He will miss all of the 2020 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
-RHP Luke Cronan is from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and his home is roughly 8,550 miles away from Lafayette. It is farthest hometown away from Lafayette on the team.
-RHP Jake McDonald and RHP David Williams are coming from major universities. McDonald was a standout Texas High School pitcher and at one point was ranked as the 57th overall MLB Draft College Prospect and ninth best Big 12 prospect in 2018 at Texas Tech according to D1Baseball.com. Williams spent time at Xavier University where he touched 100 MPH on the radar gun before getting injured.
-Louisiana has three freshmen full-time arms. Those three are LHP Dax Ford, RHP Jake Combs, and RHP Justin Barnes. Ford was the No. 18 ranked player in the state of Louisiana and the No. 1 LHP according to perfectgame.org.
-Louisiana has 24 juniors on their fall roster, more than the other three classes combined.
This is the first exhibition against another Division I baseball program in the 2019 fall slate and the first real time to get a glimpse of the entire fall roster.
There will be no live stream or live stats for the event. However, fans can follow along on Twitter at @RaginCajunsBSB.
LOUISIANA BASEBALL NOTES
-Louisiana is preparing for the 2020 season with 46 players on their roster. The number of newcomers outweighs the number of returners at 25 to 21. The Ragin' Cajuns will carry 25 pitchers, 12 infielders, six outfielders and three catchers on their fall roster.
-Matt Deggs is in his first season as the Louisiana Baseball head coach. Prior to becoming the head coach, Deggs was the skipper at Sam Houston State. While leading the Beakats, he posted an outstanding record of 187-118 (.613) with Southland Conference regular season championships in three of the last four seasons. Deggs also guided the Bearkats to a Super Regional in 2017, becoming the first-ever Southland program to accomplish the feat.
-Pitching Coach BJ Ryan is back with the Ragin' Cajuns, having played two years for Louisiana (1997-1998) and helping it earn its first Sun Belt Tournament Championship in 1998. Ryan also pitched 11 years in the MLB, earning All-Star appearances with the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.
-Out of the 530.2 total innings pitched last year, Louisiana returns 383.2 innings pitched this fall. Jacob Schultz and Austin Perrin are the returning leaders after each threw 65+ innings last season.
-What Louisiana returns in pitching, it loses in hitting. The Ragin' Cajuns only have three position players with 20 or more starts returning from last year. Those three are Hayden Cantrelle, Brennan Breaux and Tremaine Spears.
-Cantrelle is one of the more noteworthy players on the roster and around the Sun Belt. He was a Cape Cod League All-Star this past summer and a First Team All-Sun Belt Conference shortstop last spring. He had an incredible year at the plate, batting .309 with nine home runs and 31 RBIs. He also paced the conference in steals with 28.
-Breaux returns to Dudy Noble Field, but this time in a Louisiana uniform. Breaux had a great redshirt junior campaign, starting in 59 games and slashing .295/.426/.381. During the year, he recorded 16 multi-hit games and two four-hit games.
-RHP Carter Robinson joins the team after being named the NJCAA DII Baseball Pitcher of the Year while playing for Mesa CC.
-RHP Jason Nelson spent last year at Central Arizona College and was drafted in the 31st Round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He will miss all of the 2020 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
-RHP Luke Cronan is from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and his home is roughly 8,550 miles away from Lafayette. It is farthest hometown away from Lafayette on the team.
-RHP Jake McDonald and RHP David Williams are coming from major universities. McDonald was a standout Texas High School pitcher and at one point was ranked as the 57th overall MLB Draft College Prospect and ninth best Big 12 prospect in 2018 at Texas Tech according to D1Baseball.com. Williams spent time at Xavier University where he touched 100 MPH on the radar gun before getting injured.
-Louisiana has three freshmen full-time arms. Those three are LHP Dax Ford, RHP Jake Combs, and RHP Justin Barnes. Ford was the No. 18 ranked player in the state of Louisiana and the No. 1 LHP according to perfectgame.org.
-Louisiana has 24 juniors on their fall roster, more than the other three classes combined.
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballBSB Drew Markle
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