2025 Baseball Preview: The Arkansas State Series

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball team wraps up the regular season beginning on Thursday when it plays host to Arkansas State in a three-game, Sun Belt Conference series at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

First pitch in Thursday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. The series resumes on Friday at 6 p.m. before concluding on Saturday at 2 p.m. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+, with fans able to listen to the series in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.

Louisiana (25-27, 15-12 SBC), currently tied for fourth place in the SBC standings, looks to bounce back after dropping a three-game series at No. 21-ranked Southern Miss last weekend. The Ragin' Cajuns face an Arkansas State (24-26, 12-15 SBC) squad which looks to earn its first appearance to the postseason since 2021.

The schools have met 139 times on the diamond in a series dating back to 1972 with Louisiana holding a 95-44 lead. The Ragin' Cajuns are 54-18 in games played in Lafayette.

Conor Higgs (.345-16-43) – one of five seniors who will be recognized prior to Saturday's finale – leads Louisiana in 11 offensive categories and is among the top five among SBC players in six categories.

Chase Morgan (4-2, 3.96 ERA) will earn the start in Thursday's opener for Louisiana with Andrew Herrmann (3-4, 4.70 ERA) taking the mound on Friday and right-hander JR Tollett (5-4, 3.46 ERA) on Saturday.

A-State, under first-year coach and former Nicholls skipper Mike Silva, dropped a pair of one-run games last weekend at home against No. 19-ranked Troy before claiming a 7-6 victory in the finale.

Ashton Quiller, one of six players who followed Silva from Nicholls to A-State, leads the Red Wolves with a .301 batting average and 12 stolen bases. Returning letterwinner Wil French (.299-3-27) and Oklahoma transfer Patrick Engskov (.290-8-34) are next in hitting for A-State with Jake Henry Williams leading the team with 10 home runs.

Nicholls transfer Gavin Galy (2-1, 2.84 ERA) will earn the start in Thursday's opener for Arkansas State with the starters for both Friday and Saturday to be determined.

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GAMES 53-55 PREVIEW
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (25-27, 15-12 SBC) vs. Arkansas State Red Wolves (24-26, 12-15 SBC)

DATE/TIMES (dates and times are subject to change)
Thursday (May 15) – 6 p.m.
Friday (May 16) – 6 p.m.
Saturday (May 17) – 2 p.m.

LOCATION/SITE
M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park (6,015) | Lafayette, La.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
THURSDAY – 6 p.m.
LOUISIANA | LH Chase Morgan (6-3, 195, So., Cypress, Texas)
'25 Stats: 4-2, 3.96 ERA, 52.1 IP, 50 H, 28 R, 23 ER, 22 BB, 59 K, .251 OppBA

ARKANSAS STATE | RH Gavin Galy (6-2, 180, R-Sr., Orlando, Fla.)
'25 Stats: 2-1, 38.0 IP, 30 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 9 BB, 23 K, .219 OppBA

FRIDAY – 6 p.m.
LOUISIANA | LH Andrew Herrmann (6-3, 215, Sr., Kennesaw, Ga.)
'25 Stats: 3-4, 4.70 ERA, 67.0 IP, 75 H, 45 R, 35 ER, 26 BB, 52 K, .283 OppBA

ARKANSAS STATE| TBD

SATURDAY – 2 p.m.
LOUISIANA | RH JR Tollett (6-2, 190, So., Ruston, La.)
'25 Stats: 5-4, 3.46 ERA, 67.2 IP, 69 H, 30 R, 26 ER, 12 BB, 55 K, .259 OppBA

ARKANSAS STATE | TBD

RANKINGS
Louisiana – Unranked
Arkansas State – Unranked

RADIO/TV/LIVE STATISTICS
RADIO (Pregame Show starts 30 minutes prior to first pitch)
Station – KPEL-FM 96.5 / The Varsity Network App
Talent – Jay Walker (pxp); Brad Topham (color)

TV/STREAMING (ESPN+)
Talent – Dan McDonald (pxp); Brennen Breaux (color); Eric Mouton (color)

LIVE STATS
CajunStats.com

SERIES HISTORY
Overall – Louisiana leads, 95-44
In Lafayette – Louisiana leads, 54-18
In Jonesboro – Louisiana leads, 38-22
Neutral Sites – Arkansas State leads, 4-3
Last 10 – Louisiana, 8-2
Streak – Louisiana +2

ON DECK
• Louisiana closes out the regular season beginning on Thursday when it hosts Arkansas State in a three-game series at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
• Louisiana and Arkansas State meet on the final weekend of the regular season for the second time overall and first since 2002.
• Thursday's meeting will be the 140th between the schools in a series that dates back to 1972.
• Louisiana looks to clinch the No. 4 seed in next week's Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championships at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala.
• Louisiana will honor its graduates (Carson Fluno, Andrew Herrmann, Blake McGehee, Dylan Theut and Jose Torres) before Friday's contest with the 2025 Senior Class (Herrmann, Conor Higgs, Matthew Holzhammer, Theut and Torres) recognized on Saturday.
• With 34 career home runs, Higgs is one shy of tying Jonathan Lucroy (35, 2005-07) for fourth place in school history and two of tying Damian Grossie (36, 1988-91) for third.
• Higgs needs two home runs to tie Lucroy (18, 2007) for the fourth-most in a single season in Ragin' Cajuns history.
• Higgs ranks in the top five among SBC players in OPS (2nd, 1.161), slugging percentage (2nd, .690), home runs (T4th, 16), average (5th, .345), runs (5th, 50), and hit by pitch (T5th, 17).
• Lee Amedee's four-hit game in the series finale at Georgia State was the first this season by a Ragin' Cajun and first since Duncan Pastore went 4-for-4 against Nicholls on April 2, 2024.
Amedee is second in the SBC in doubles (18).
• Louisiana (4.15) and Arkansas State (4.66) are third and fourth, respectively in team ERA in Sun Belt Conference games.
• Louisiana's season average of 3,488 fans per game ranks 23^rd nationally.

THE ARKANSAS STATE SERIES
• Louisiana and Arkansas State will meet for the 140th time in Thursday's opener with the Ragin' Cajuns holding a 95-44 lead.
• Louisiana is 54-18 against the Red Wolves in games played in Lafayette and have won eight of the last 10 overall meetings in the series.
• A-State handed Louisiana its only loss in the first half of Sun Belt Conference play in 2024 as the Ragin' Cajuns reeled off 14 straight wins after an 11-8 contest in the opening game of last year's series in Jonesboro.

WHAT'S ON TAP
• Louisiana heads to Montgomery, Alabama on Monday in preparation for the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Championships at Riverwalk Stadium, which begins Tuesday with a pair of play-in games.
• The Ragin' Cajuns would open as the No. 4 seed in the 10-team tournament (if the season ended today) and would play against the No. 5 seed in the final game on Wednesday.
• Two wins by Louisiana over A-State would clinch the No. 4 seed while the Ragin' Cajuns hold tie-breakers over Georgia Southern (13-14, at Marshall) and Old Dominion (15-12, vs. Coastal Carolina).

2025 Baseball Preview: The Arkansas State Series

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Players Mentioned

Lee Amedee

Carson Fluno

Andrew Herrmann

Conor Higgs

Matthew Holzhammer

Blake McGehee

Chase Morgan

Duncan Pastore

Dylan Theut

JR Tollett

Jose Torres

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