University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, March 1
Irvine, Calif.
3 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
5-6
6
at
9
UC Irvine
7-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Louisiana
0
0
0
0
1
3
1
1
0
6
8
1
UC Irvine
5
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
X
9
13
2
Home Run Barrage Not Enough For Cajuns Against UC Irvine, 9-6
3/1/2025 6:51:00 PM | Baseball
IRVINE, Calif. – A pair of home runs from Conor Higgs, along with homers from Drew Markle, Caleb Stelly and Jose Torres were not enough as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns fell behind 7-0 early and dropped a 9-6 contest to No. 20-ranked UC Irvine Saturday afternoon at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.
Zach Crandall, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup for UC Irvine (7-3), went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in a pair of runs as the Anteaters scored five runs in the first inning and led 7-0 after four.
Colin Yeaman, Anthony Martinez, Jacob McCombs and Zach Fjelstad had two hits each as UC Irvine, ranked No. 20 by Baseball America, recorded 12 hits. Jack Ross (2-1) earned the win after pitching 5.1 innings with six strikeouts, while Max Martin pitched the ninth inning for his second save.
The three-game series concludes on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans being aired in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.
Louisiana (5-6) began its comeback in the fifth after Sam Ardoin reached on a one-out error and eventually scored on Brooks' Wright sacrifice bunt. The Ragin' Cajuns turned the momentum beginning in the sixth inning when Stelly hit a leadoff homer off Ross.
Higgs and Torres then followed with back-to-back homers for Louisiana to cut the deficit to 7-4 before reliever David Butler would help get UCI out of the threat. The Anteaters would get a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Crandall lifted a two-out RBI double which scored Landon Gaz.
Markle's home run in the seventh, his second of the weekend, would get Louisiana to within 8-5 and Higgs would belt his second homer in the eighth with a leadoff blast to center-field off reliever Ryder Brooks.
UC Irvine knocked out Louisiana starter Blake McGehee (1-2) early in the second inning with seven hits, a pair of walks and a hit batter. Riley Marcotte posted career-bests for Louisiana with 3.0 innings of relief with four strikeouts. James Trimble pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Ragin' Cajuns with Matt Gaither fanning two batters and JR Tollett one.
Markle, Stelly and Higgs had two hits each to lead Louisiana, which finished with nine for the game.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball season and single-game tickets are available for purchase online at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685). Fans can also support the baseball student athletes, and invest in the program's future, through the Krewe Allons NIL Collective (click here).
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.
Zach Crandall, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup for UC Irvine (7-3), went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in a pair of runs as the Anteaters scored five runs in the first inning and led 7-0 after four.
Colin Yeaman, Anthony Martinez, Jacob McCombs and Zach Fjelstad had two hits each as UC Irvine, ranked No. 20 by Baseball America, recorded 12 hits. Jack Ross (2-1) earned the win after pitching 5.1 innings with six strikeouts, while Max Martin pitched the ninth inning for his second save.
The three-game series concludes on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans being aired in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.
Louisiana (5-6) began its comeback in the fifth after Sam Ardoin reached on a one-out error and eventually scored on Brooks' Wright sacrifice bunt. The Ragin' Cajuns turned the momentum beginning in the sixth inning when Stelly hit a leadoff homer off Ross.
Higgs and Torres then followed with back-to-back homers for Louisiana to cut the deficit to 7-4 before reliever David Butler would help get UCI out of the threat. The Anteaters would get a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Crandall lifted a two-out RBI double which scored Landon Gaz.
Markle's home run in the seventh, his second of the weekend, would get Louisiana to within 8-5 and Higgs would belt his second homer in the eighth with a leadoff blast to center-field off reliever Ryder Brooks.
UC Irvine knocked out Louisiana starter Blake McGehee (1-2) early in the second inning with seven hits, a pair of walks and a hit batter. Riley Marcotte posted career-bests for Louisiana with 3.0 innings of relief with four strikeouts. James Trimble pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Ragin' Cajuns with Matt Gaither fanning two batters and JR Tollett one.
Markle, Stelly and Higgs had two hits each to lead Louisiana, which finished with nine for the game.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball season and single-game tickets are available for purchase online at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685). Fans can also support the baseball student athletes, and invest in the program's future, through the Krewe Allons NIL Collective (click here).
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: Ross, Jack (2-1)
L: McGehee, Blake (1-2)
S: Martin, Max (2)
Batting:
HR: Markle, Drew 1 ; Stelly, Caleb 1 ; Higgs, Conor 2 ; Torres, Jose 1
RBI: Wright, Brooks 1 ; Markle, Drew 1 ; Stelly, Caleb 1 ; Higgs, Conor 2 ; Torres, Jose 1
SH: Wright, Brooks 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Markle, Drew 1 ; Stelly, Caleb 1 ; Higgs, Conor 2 ; Torres, Jose 1 ; Ardoin, Sam 1
HBP: Higgs, Conor 1
Batting:
2B: Yeaman, Colin 1 ; McCombs, Jacob 2 ; Crandall, Zach 1
3B: Fjelstad, Zach 1
HR: Fjelstad, Zach 1
RBI: Martinez, Anthony 1 ; McCombs, Jacob 1 ; Felsch, Rowan 2 ; Fjelstad, Zach 1 ; Gaz, Landon 1 ; Crandall, Zach 2
SF: Felsch, Rowan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yeaman, Colin 1 ; Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Call, Chase 2 ; McCombs, Jacob 2 ; Fjelstad, Zach 2 ; Gaz, Landon 1
CS: Felsch, Rowan 1
HBP: Call, Chase 1 ; Gaz, Landon 2
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
dh/p
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
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