University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Friday, February 16
Lafayette, La.
6:00 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
1-0
3
vs
2
Wright State
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Wright State
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
2
4
1
Louisiana
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
5
1
Cajuns Walk It Off In Opener Against Wright State, 3-2
2/16/2024 9:35:00 PM | Baseball
Louisiana scores twice in ninth to claim season-opener against Raiders
LAFAYETTE – Jose Torres' sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a two-run rally and gave the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns a 3-2 win over Wright State in the season-opener for both teams on Friday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
Luke Yuhasz tied the game two batters earlier when his squeeze bunt scored freshman Maddox Mandino as Louisiana (1-0) and Wright State (0-1) battled through a 1-1 duel for six innings before the Raiders scored a run in the seventh.
"It was a typical Opening Night where you grind your gears a little bit offensively," head coach Matt Deggs said. "We had been so good, but tip of the cap to Wright State. They're a talented ballclub as a group of hitters and they can play defense and their starter (Jake Shirk) did a great job.
"We barreled some ball right at them and their shortstop played a great game, but out pitching did what they've done for us all year. They gave us a chance to win it late."
The series resumes on Saturday at 2 p.m. Fans can listen to the game in the Lafayette area on Classic 105.1 FM and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.
Mandino led off the ninth inning for Louisiana with a walk off WSU reliever Jay Luikart (0-1) before Duncan Pastore reached on a single to shortstop. After Luikart fanned John Taylor for the first out of the inning, the Ragin' Cajuns carried out a double steal with Mandino ruled safe after a review.
Yuhasz, who entered as a pinch-hitter, then executed a successful bunt scoring Mandino while reaching first after Luikart's throw to first pulled Julian Greenwell off the bag.
Conor Higgs drew an intentional walk to load the bases and Torres, a native of Panama who was playing in front of his family for the first time in six years, lifted a fly ball to deep left field with Pastore scoring the game-winner.
Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Trey LaFleur belted an opposite-field home down the left-field line off Shirk, who pitched 7.0 strong innings for Wright State, scattering three hits with four strikeouts and inducing 14 ground ball outs.
The Raiders, the defending Horizon League champions and 2023 NCAA Regional participants, tied the game in the fourth with an unearned run off Louisiana starter Jack Martinez.
Luikart reached second on an error after Mandino overran a liner to left before moving to third on Patrick Fultz's grounder to second. Luke Arnold then flied out to right field and Luikart would beat Josh Alexander's throw as he slide in under the tag of Torres to knot the game at 1-1.
WSU took a 2-1 lead in the seventh as Carson Clark hit a two-out single through the left side, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Sammy Sass' RBI double to left.
LP Langevin (1-0) earned the win in his Louisiana debut, tossing the final 2.0 innings and striking out three. Martinez, making his DI debut after two seasons at D-III Trinity University (Texas), allowed one hit and struck out a pair of batters in 5.0 innings for the Ragin' Cajuns.
Pastore and Higgs had two hits each for Louisiana, including a combined three doubles. David Christie pitched a scoreless inning for the Ragin' Cajuns with a pair of strikeouts while Langevin got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth after forcing Arnold to ground to third.
Tickets for Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball are available for purchase on-line at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685).
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
For the latest updates on Ragin' Cajuns baseball, follow on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.
Luke Yuhasz tied the game two batters earlier when his squeeze bunt scored freshman Maddox Mandino as Louisiana (1-0) and Wright State (0-1) battled through a 1-1 duel for six innings before the Raiders scored a run in the seventh.
"It was a typical Opening Night where you grind your gears a little bit offensively," head coach Matt Deggs said. "We had been so good, but tip of the cap to Wright State. They're a talented ballclub as a group of hitters and they can play defense and their starter (Jake Shirk) did a great job.
"We barreled some ball right at them and their shortstop played a great game, but out pitching did what they've done for us all year. They gave us a chance to win it late."
The series resumes on Saturday at 2 p.m. Fans can listen to the game in the Lafayette area on Classic 105.1 FM and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.
Mandino led off the ninth inning for Louisiana with a walk off WSU reliever Jay Luikart (0-1) before Duncan Pastore reached on a single to shortstop. After Luikart fanned John Taylor for the first out of the inning, the Ragin' Cajuns carried out a double steal with Mandino ruled safe after a review.
Yuhasz, who entered as a pinch-hitter, then executed a successful bunt scoring Mandino while reaching first after Luikart's throw to first pulled Julian Greenwell off the bag.
Conor Higgs drew an intentional walk to load the bases and Torres, a native of Panama who was playing in front of his family for the first time in six years, lifted a fly ball to deep left field with Pastore scoring the game-winner.
Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Trey LaFleur belted an opposite-field home down the left-field line off Shirk, who pitched 7.0 strong innings for Wright State, scattering three hits with four strikeouts and inducing 14 ground ball outs.
The Raiders, the defending Horizon League champions and 2023 NCAA Regional participants, tied the game in the fourth with an unearned run off Louisiana starter Jack Martinez.
Luikart reached second on an error after Mandino overran a liner to left before moving to third on Patrick Fultz's grounder to second. Luke Arnold then flied out to right field and Luikart would beat Josh Alexander's throw as he slide in under the tag of Torres to knot the game at 1-1.
WSU took a 2-1 lead in the seventh as Carson Clark hit a two-out single through the left side, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Sammy Sass' RBI double to left.
LP Langevin (1-0) earned the win in his Louisiana debut, tossing the final 2.0 innings and striking out three. Martinez, making his DI debut after two seasons at D-III Trinity University (Texas), allowed one hit and struck out a pair of batters in 5.0 innings for the Ragin' Cajuns.
Pastore and Higgs had two hits each for Louisiana, including a combined three doubles. David Christie pitched a scoreless inning for the Ragin' Cajuns with a pair of strikeouts while Langevin got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth after forcing Arnold to ground to third.
Tickets for Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball are available for purchase on-line at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685).
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
For the latest updates on Ragin' Cajuns baseball, follow on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Langevin, LP (1-0)
L: Jay Luikart (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Sammy Sass 1
RBI: Luke Arnold 1 ; Sammy Sass 1
SF: Luke Arnold 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jay Luikart 1 ; Carson Clark 1
SB: Gus Gregory 1
Batting:
2B: Pastore, Duncan 1 ; Higgs, Conor 2
HR: LaFleur, Trey 1
RBI: Yuhasz, Luke 1 ; Torres, Jose 1 ; LaFleur, Trey 1
SH: Yuhasz, Luke 1
SF: Torres, Jose 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mandino, Maddox 1 ; Pastore, Duncan 1 ; LaFleur, Trey 1
SB: Mandino, Maddox 1 ; Pastore, Duncan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP/OF
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