University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Lead Slips Away As Cajuns Fall to No. 21 Southern Miss, 9-6
5/11/2025 5:02:00 PM | Baseball
Louisiana to close out regular season at home beginning Thursday against Arkansas State
Nick Monistere and Matthew Russo combined for five hits with five RBI as Southern Miss (38-13, 21-6 SBC) won its 12th straight game heading into a weekend series at Troy beginning on Thursday. Louisiana (25-27, 15-12 SBC), which fell into a tie for fourth-place with Old Dominion, will close out the regular season at home beginning on Thursday against Arkansas State.
Louisiana scored multiple runs in the second inning for the third straight game, scoring nine of its 14 runs during the series in the frame. Jose Torres opened the scoring for the Ragin' Cajuns when his sacrifice fly to right scored Conor Higgs for an early 1-0 lead.
Owen Galt was hit by a pitch and Blaine Lucas hit a looping single to left off USM starter Grayden Harris to keep the inning going for Louisiana before Markle laced a single to left to drive in Lee Amedee and Galt for a 3-0 lead.
Stelly, who finished 3-for-5 at the plate, would later follow with a two-out single up the middle to drive in Markle and Maddox Mandino for a 5-0 lead before USM reliever Kros Sivley (5-1) relieved Harris and got a fly out to end the frame.
The Golden Eagles began their comeback in the bottom half of the inning, beginning with Joey Urban's solo home run and a two-out double by Ozzie Pratt. USM closed to within 5-4 on Russo's two-run homer in the third before Tucker Stockman and Monistere homered off Dylan Theut (1-2) to give the Golden Eagles a 7-5 lead.
Louisiana threatened in the fifth as Stelly and Higgs led off with base hits and settled for Torres' second sacrifice fly to get to within 7-6.
Pratt gave USM an 8-6 lead in the sixth inning before Russo's two-out single to right would drive in Stockman.
Sivley pitched 2.2 innings and struck out two to earn the win in relief for USM. Landen Payne pitched 3.0 scoreless innings with five strikeouts to earn his fourth save of the season.
Higgs joined Stelly in recording three hits for Louisiana, which finished with 10 hits in the contest and stranded eight runners. Tate Hess, the last of four pitchers used by Louisiana, tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief while allowing one hit.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sivley, Kros (5-1)
L: Theut, Dylan (1-2)
S: Payne, Landen (4)

Batting:
RBI: Stelly, Caleb 2 ; Torres, Jose 2 ; Markle, Drew 2
SF: Torres, Jose 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Mandino, Maddox 1 ; Stelly, Caleb 1 ; Higgs, Conor 1 ; Amedee, Lee 1 ; Galt, Owen 1 ; Markle, Drew 1
SB: Higgs, Conor 1
HBP: Higgs, Conor 2 ; Galt, Owen 1

Batting:
2B: Monistere, Nick 1 ; Pratt, Ozzie 1
HR: Monistere, Nick 1 ; Russo, Matthew 1 ; Urban, Joey 1 ; Stockman, Tucker 1
RBI: Monistere, Nick 2 ; Russo, Matthew 3 ; Urban, Joey 1 ; Stockman, Tucker 1 ; Pratt, Ozzie 2
SF: Pratt, Ozzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cook, Jake 1 ; Monistere, Nick 2 ; Russo, Matthew 1 ; Urban, Joey 1 ; Higdon, Ben 1 ; Barrett, Drey 1 ; Stockman, Tucker 2
HBP: Paetow, Carson 1