University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
30-17
Rice
13-36
Offense Erupts As Louisiana Run-Rules Rice, 16-6
5/11/2022 11:07:00 PM | Baseball
Ragin' Cajuns score 12 unanswered runs in middle innings to break 3-3 tie
Bobby Lada and Kyle DeBarge led an 18-hit attack with three hits each as Louisiana (30-17) scored five runs in the fourth inning, three in the fifth and four in the sixth to pull away from a 3-3 tie. Will Veillon drove in three runs with Hood, Lada and Max Marusak each recording a pair of RBI in leading Louisiana to its most runs in a game since a 19-8 win against ULM in the 2019 regular-season finale.
Louisiana trailed 1-0 after an inning before Jonathan Brandon hit an RBI triple and scored on a wild pitch for a 2-1 lead in the second. Connor Kimple added an RBI in the third when he beat out a two-out, infield hit to score Tyler Robertson and extending Louisiana's lead to 3-1.
Rice (13-36) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame when Jack Riedel doubled down the right-field line to plate Nathan Becker before scoring on Johnny Hoyle's RBI single to left.
Hood, who finished 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI, gave Louisiana the lead for good in the fourth when he belted the first pitch from Rice starter Parker Smith (1-3) over the left-center field fence for his fourth home run of the season. Veillon and Lada would add RBI singles the inning before Marusak drove in a pair of runs with a grounder back the mound.
Louisiana added three more runs in the fifth to take an 11-3 lead when Hood hit an RBI triple to drive in Kimple, Julian Brock hit an RBI single to left and Veillon reached on an infield single to score pinch-runner Austin Garrett.
DeBarge added an RBI single in the sixth for the Ragin' Cajuns with Veillon driving in a run on a sacrifice fly and Louisiana scoring runs in the inning on a passed ball and error.
Chipper Menard (4-1), the second of five pitchers used by the Ragin' Cajuns, pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief to earn the victory for Louisiana, scattering a pair of hits and fanning three batters. Cooper Rawls added 1.2 innings of scoreless relief for Louisiana while Jake Hammond pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out the side in 10 pitches.
Smith took the loss for Rice after allowing four earned runs and allowing five hits in 3.1 innings. Connor Walsh led the Owls at the plate going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored while Becker was 2-for-2.
Louisiana will continue its final road trip of the regular season beginning on Friday when it opens a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at No. 15-ranked Texas State. First pitch for Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., with Saturday's contest set for 4 p.m., and Sunday's finale at 1.
All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can be heard in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5), the Varsity Network and the #GeauxCajuns app.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Menard, Chipper (4-1)
L: Parker Smith (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Kimple, Connor 1
3B: Hood, Heath 1 ; Brandon, Jonathan 1
HR: Hood, Heath 1
RBI: Marusak, Max 2 ; Kimple, Connor 1 ; Hood, Heath 2 ; Brock, Julian 1 ; DeBarge, Kyle 1 ; Brandon, Jonathan 1 ; Veillon, Will 3 ; Lada, Bobby 2
SF: Veillon, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Robertson, Tyler 1 ; Higgs, Conor 1 ; Kimple, Connor 1 ; LaFleur, Trey 1 ; Hood, Heath 2 ; Garrett, Austin 2 ; DeBarge, Kyle 4 ; Brandon, Jonathan 2 ; Veillon, Will 1 ; Lada, Bobby 1
SB: Robertson, Tyler 1 ; DeBarge, Kyle 3
CS: Veillon, Will 1
PO: Kimple, Connor 1
Batting:
2B: Connor Walsh 1 ; Austin Bulman 1 ; Nathan Becker 1 ; Jack Riedel 1
RBI: Connor Walsh 1 ; Guy Garibay Jr. 1 ; Austin Bulman 1 ; Nathan Becker 1 ; Jack Riedel 1 ; Johnny Hoyle 1
SF: Nathan Becker 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Connor Walsh 2 ; Nathan Becker 1 ; Jack Riedel 1 ; Johnny Hoyle 1 ; Benjamin Rosengard 1
SB: Johnny Hoyle 1
HBP: Johnny Hoyle 1 ; Benjamin Rosengard 1
PO: Johnny Hoyle 1
