Louisiana Baseball on RaginPagin

The 16th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team is set to close out an eight-game road swing on Tuesday as the squad heads to Northwestern State for a 6 p.m. contest at Brown-Stroud Field.
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Fans can listen to the contest live on ESPN 1420-AM with Dan McDonald and Jeff Schneider making the call. Live stats are available on RaginCajuns.com.
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The Ragin' Cajuns (3-3) are coming off of a series win at Sam Houston State. Louisiana claimed the opening game of the series with a 2-0 shutout of the Bearkats. It was the first time that SHSU had been shutout at home since March 9, 2013 against UConn.
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The Cajuns went on to claim the series with a 6-1 victory on Saturday before falling in the finale 8-3. Freshman Todd Lott powered the Cajuns offense in Huntsville, Texas going 6-for-10 with a home run and four RBI.
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Louisiana dropped three spots in the D1Baseball rankings on Monday falling to No. 16 in the poll. The Cajuns remained at No. 16 in the Baseball America Top 25, but also saw a fall in the Collegiate Baseball rankings moving down to No. 28.
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Sophomore left-hander Hogan Harris (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make the start for the Ragin' Cajuns against the Demons (3-3). Harris' only appearance of the season came at Southeastern Louisiana in a suspended game. Northwestern State will counter with junior right-hander Dan Hlad (0-0, 1.94 ERA).
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Louisiana holds an 85-48 edge in the all-time series against Northwestern State having won nine straight against the Demons and 16 of the last 20 meetings. The Cajuns are 29-15 against NSU with head coach Tony Robichaux at the helm including a 10-8 record at Brown Stroud Field.
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Northwestern State is coming off of a series loss to Arkansas State this past weekend. The Demons dropped a close 3-2 decision in the opener before evening the series with a 9-5 win. The Red Wolves cruised to a 12-3 victory in the series finale.
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Regan Kaufamn paces an offense that is hitting .228 through six games with a .300 average including three doubles, a triple and four RBI. Matthew Alford has a team-best five RBI.
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Following the contest at Northwestern State, the Cajuns will host Southern Miss on March 3 in the 2017 home opener at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park. First pitch of the series opener is slated for 6 p.m.
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Senior Kyle Clement was perfect at the plate and drove in the game-winning run as the Bayou Boys battled back with a 3-1 decision to even the Ragin' Cajuns Fall World Series at one game apiece on Wednesday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

First pitch for the rubber match of the series is set for 4:30 p.m. at the Tigue with the Swampers holding home field advantage.

Clement was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI as the Bayou Boys outhit the Swampers 6-3 in the contest.

Starter Jevin Huval picked up the victory for the Bayou Boys throwing 3.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts, while freshman Harrison Fife earned the save with a scoreless inning in relief striking out the side. Sophomore Reagan Bazar also had a strong outing on the mound for the Bayou Boys throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

The Bayou Boys took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Nick Thurman brought home Blake Trahan on a ground ball to third base. Trahan reached on a one-out walk and then moved to third on a single to right by Clement.

Clement extended the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third on an RBI double to the left center gap. Shortstop Kennon Fontenot doubled to left center to lead off the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Greg Davis scored on a wild pitch by Riley Cooper to cut the lead to 2-1. Davis reached on a one-out walk and then advanced to third after a balk and a wild pitch.

Clement added an insurance run for the Bayou Boys in the bottom of the fifth on a single down the right field line scoring Trahan from first to make the score 3-1.

For info and updates on Ragin' Cajuns baseball follow the squad on twitter @CajunsBaseball.

The Swampers used a five-run fifth inning to take game one of the Ragin' Cajuns baseball Fall World Series defeating the Bayou Boys 5-4 in seven innings on Tuesday evening at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

Adam Angelle had the only multi-hit performance of the day going 2-for-3 for the Bayou Boys, while Kennon Fontenot drove in two of the squad's four runs.

Joe Robbins led the way offensively for the Swampers with a double and two RBI. Dylan Moore picked up the victory throwing 1.2 innings and Eric Carter was credited with the save throwing a scoreless inning with three strikeouts.

Will Bacon had a solid outing for the Bayou Boys throwing 3.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts in a start.

The Bayou Boys broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth on a two-run single to left by Fontenot scoring Tyler St. Philip and Brock Keener. Later in the inning, Adam Angelle scored on a wild pitch by Moore to give the Bayou Boys a 3-0 advantage.

The Swampers answered in the bottom of the fifth exploding for five runs on four hits. Robbins cut the lead to 3-2 on a two-run double to left center. In the next at bat, Stefan Trosclair doubled to left to score Robbins to even the contest at 3-all. After Trosclair stole third base, he came in to score on balk by Wyatt Marks to give the Swampers a 4-3 edge. Greg Davis pushed across the final run of the inning on an infield single to make the score 5-3 Swampers.

In the top of the sixth, the Bayou Boys pulled within a run on a one-out, bases-loaded single up the middle by Angelle. Moore ended the threat though getting two straight pop ups to end the inning.

Game two of the Fall World Series is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch tomorrow at the Tigue. Admission to the contest is free. Follow the team on twitter @CajunsBaseball for updates and the latest news.

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team jumped five spots in the Collegiate Baseball Poll to earn the school's first ever No. 1 ranking for any sport, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper announced on Monday.

"I'm most proud of this ranking for the university," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "A lot of hard work has gone into this over the years. I give a lot of thanks to the boosters and alumni that worked hard here at the university to get us to this point. I give credit to the president and athletic director and the whole athletic department because the other coaches are also trying to make their sports the best in the country. This is a big honor for the university, and we do everything that we do for the name on the front of our uniform."

The Cajuns also saw record high rankings in the Baseball America poll coming at No. 4 and Perfect Game ranking at No. 3. The team ranks sixth in the USA Today Coaches Poll, while the NCBWA rankings will be released later today.

"We are only a third of the way through the season and not much is given at this point," Robichaux added. "We are going to have to earn the rest of the way, because we want to be there at the end."

Louisiana continues a nine-game homestand with five games at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field this week starting with a pair of mid-week games against in-state opponents as Northwestern State comes to town on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Ragin' Cajuns host Southern University on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Tigue.

By: BabySitter

The last time I was on this board was about this time last year saying how exciting last years 2013 team had the "potential" to be. Well, making it to the regional finals in Alex Box against LSU was nothing more than a pipe dream at that time coming off of a miserable 2012 campaign. So hey, I was wrong. We overacheived in 2013 !! Seriously folks, what a fun season 2013 was for many of us.

Ther's a lot of BIG TALK going on about this years version of UL baseball. Conference champs, hosting a regional, hosting a super regional, and the crown jewel........ The CWS. Let's pump the brakes for just a minute here. MANY things have to happen for all of the previously mentioned to happen. We MUST stay healthy from positions players to pitchers and back-ups first and foremost. All the stars must be aligned!!! Don't laugh, I'm serious. Defense and pitching as we have all heard wins championships. We'll see how good we are in both relatively early. But lets not start the celebration anytime soon. Long season.

Lets not forget about the 3 new additions to our conference in Texas State, Georgia State, and UTA. They don't know us and guess what, we don't know them either. No warm and fuzzy feeling here about sweeping any of these three teams. We still gotta play it out.

Pardon my somewhat "negativity" so early in the year and so late at night but I'm a realist and I love this game but just when we think all is grand, it brings you to your knees. This is pitch by pitch inning by inning game by game and that's what I suggest we do this season as a really fun ride "could" be in store.

As for personnel, here's how I see the batting order stacking up. We'll see if I'm close on opening night :

Harrison [CF] [This years Dex Kjerstad. Remember that] [Jr]
Leonards [DH or 3B] [Expect a great senior year] [Sr]
Adams [LF] [Minumum 15 bombs] [Jr]
Strentz [C] [Will also see some OF at times] [Jr]
Conrad [2B] [Expect a big year here] [Jr]
Compton [1B] [Got his stroke back and expect big things from him] [Sr]
Butler [RF] [May be the key to the whole thing. He's got to stay healthy] [Jr]
Girouard [DH / 3B] [.350 plus hitter hitting in the 8 hole is SICK] [RS Jr]
Trahan [SS] [Fill in whatever you want here] [Soph]

Back ups

Joe Robbins [Soph]- Vastly improved over last season both defense and offense.
Evan Powell - [Jr.] - Stud who will see his fair share at DH, 3B, and catcher. Hits it a ton.
Greg Davis - [Fr] - First baseman and right handed hitter with big time pop. Lots of potential here.
Kyle Clement - [jr.] - LH hitting utility player. Good athlete with high baseball IQ.
Nick Thurman- [Soph] - LH hitting catcher who came up huge in the post season last year. Watch his development.

As you can see, not exactly a yellow brick road through this lineup no matter what the order.

Pitching

Robe [Starter]- We know what we have here. Just needs to stay the course. [Jr]
Milhorn [Starter]- 90-92 at the shins [Jr]
Baranik [Starter] - 91-93. Had a great fall vs some good hitters [Jr]
Wilson [Mid-week starter / reliever] [Sr] Love this guy
Boutte [Mid-week starter / reliever] [Sr] Ice in his veins no matter what role
Guidry [Middle relief and a bulldog on the mound] Low 90's [Fr. I think]
Bazar [1 or 2 inning guy] 6'7" 93-95. RGE's [Radar Gun Erections] when this guy trots out there. Must keep ball down. [Fr.]
Hicks [Closer] What else can you say... [Sr.]
Cooper [Middle relief]. Crafty LHP who competes. Upper 80's with a _____ curve ball [Fr.]
Toups [Middle relief] LHP mid 80's with movement. Not scared to pitch. [Fr]
Zaunbracher - [Middle relief] RHP who has improved and pounds the zone

I know I missed a few pitchers for sure but this team should be very solid with arms. I'll say this, this is twice the staff we had in 2013 with tons of potential the deeper we go. I'll leave it at that.

With all that said, see you at the ballpark.....Game by game by game by game.....