University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
4-2
Rice
2-2
Louisiana Beats Rice, 7-3, in Friday Matchup
2/26/2021 11:09:00 PM | Baseball
Durke gets his first win as a Ragin’ Cajun, Robertson and Kimple hit home runs
LAFAYETTE - Louisiana Baseball used quality pitching and timely at-bats to beat Rice, 7-3, on Friday night at M.L. 'Tigue' Moore Field at Russo Park.
Louisiana (4-2) jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead courtesy of a Tyler Robertson first-pitch, lead-off home run, the first by a Ragin' Cajun since May 16, 2019, and a Jonathan Brandon two-out, two-run single.
Rice got to Louisiana's starter Hayden Durke (1-0) in the top of the second inning, tallying three runs, two of which came on a Connor Walsh big-fly.
Durke ended his day on his 100th pitch by striking out Cade Edwards, the ninth punch out of his outing.
Louisiana forced Rice's starter Mitchell Holcomb (0-1) out of the game after three innings when Brennan Breaux roped a double into the right field corner, plating two runs making the game 5-3 after three frames.
Following the second inning, Louisiana's pitching went into shutdown mode, not allowing a run the rest of the game. The Ragin' Cajuns saw appearances from Austin Perrin, Jeff Wilson and Brandon Talley. Talley made his team-leading fourth appearance of the year.
Carson Roccaforte proved to the Ragin' Cajuns faithful that he belongs in the lineup, hitting a two-out RBI-single to extend Louisiana's lead to 6-3 in the fourth. Roocaforte is now 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position on the year.
Connor Kimple ended his two-game hitting drought by adding another home run to the Cajuns' total, hitting a towering blast to left field for his second homer of the season in the sixth.
Talley finished the night for Louisiana on the mound by retiring five of the eight batters he faced on strikes, giving Louisiana the 7-3 victory.
Louisiana is back in action on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. first pitch against Rice.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Durke, Hayden (1-0)
L: Mitchell Holcomb (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Connor Walsh 1
HR: Connor Walsh 1
RBI: Bradley Gneiting 1 ; Connor Walsh 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Cade Edwards 1 ; Bradley Gneiting 1 ; Connor Walsh 1
CS: Bradley Gneiting 1
HBP: Braden Comeaux 1
Batting:
2B: Fitzgerald, Ben 1 ; Breaux, Brennan 1
HR: Robertson, Tyler 1 ; Kimple, Connor 1
RBI: Robertson, Tyler 1 ; Kimple, Connor 1 ; Roccaforte, Carson 1 ; Breaux, Brennan 2 ; Brandon, Jonathan 2
SH: Kimple, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Robertson, Tyler 1 ; Fitzgerald, Ben 2 ; Kimple, Connor 1 ; Roccaforte, Carson 2 ; Osborn, Drake 1
SB: Fitzgerald, Ben 1 ; Roccaforte, Carson 1 ; Osborn, Drake 1
CS: Kimple, Connor 1
HBP: Fitzgerald, Ben 1 ; Breaux, Brennan 1
