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Matt Goulas knows how to play big in big games as a freshman.
He did it at Hanson Memorial as a high school ninth-grader, hitting two homers in a playoff win for the Tigers.
And he did again for UL as a college freshman Friday night, hitting two homers and driving in seven runs to help the Ragin' Cajuns to an 11-8 win over UNO in front of 2,112 at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
Goulas has now hit three homers in two games as the Cajuns improved to 27-27 overall and 15-14 in Sun Belt play.
"I feel very relaxed at the plate, I'm seeing the ball real well," Goulas said. "I don't know what it is, I usually find the holes, but now I'm just hitting it over the fence."
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080517/SPORTS/805170320/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Brady Aymond •
baymond@theadvertiser.com • May 17, 2008
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Goulas had a little help Friday night as the bottom third of the lineup - Jordan Poirrier, William Long and Josh Logan - went a combined 7-for-11 with seven runs and three RBIs.
On the mound, Buddy Glass (4-3) and Danny Farquhar (11 career saves) combined for six solid innings of relief as the Cajuns are starting to show signs of the nationally-ranked team to start the season.
"This is what we thought we had early," UL coach Tony Robichaux said. "We just couldn't hit enough throughout the season. We played really inconsistent. When we pitched, we couldn't hit and when we hit, we couldn't pitch.
"We're going to need to show more consistency to win that conference tournament. We're not happy to just be in."
The final game of the series will get under way at 2 p.m. today with UL senior left-hander Brent Solich (2-5, 7.19 ERA) battling UNO ace right-hander Bryan Cryer (11-1, 2.60 ERA). The game will be broadcast live on KLAF (cable channel 17) and ESPN 1420-AM.
"There's a lot of work still for us to do," Robichaux said. "We're going to need more than two wins to win the conference tournament championship. Solich is going to go for us tomorrow. We need him to step up and have a good start for us tomorrow."
UNO (38-16, 18-10) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second off Cajuns' starter Michael Cook. A two-run double by Nick Lanning and RBI single by Mark McGonigle did the damage.
The Privateers extended their lead to 4-0 in the third when Johnny Giavotella drew a lead-off walk and later scored on Nick Schwaner's RBI single.
The Cajuns' bats came alive in the third as the bottom of the order started off their big night. Poirrier singled to left to open the inning before Long followed with a single up the middle.
Logan drove in Poirrier on an RBI double to make it a 4-1 game. Goulas tied the score two at-bats later, taking the second pitch from UNO starter Justin Garcia (6-1) off the scoreboard above the fence in left-centerfield for a three-run homer.
The game didn't stay tied long, however, as Lanning led off the top of the fourth inning with a solo homer over the scoreboard to give UNO a 5-4 lead.
The homer also chased Cook, bringing in Glass, who quickly gave up two runs on a Giavotella RBI single and throwing a wild pitch that allowed Ryan Eden to score for a 7-4 UNO lead.
That lead was short-lived, though, as the Cajuns exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 10-7 lead.
Once again, it was the bottom of the lineup that got the rally started as Scott Hawkins, Tyler Benzel, Poirrier, Long and Logan ripped consecutive singles to open the inning.
Long's single plated both Hawkins and Benzel to pull the Cajuns within 7-6. One out later, Goulas struck again - a grand slam homer off Garcia.
"I was just trying to put the ball in play, just try to get it in the air and score the run from third," Goulas said. "The first one I knew it was gone. The second one, I was worried about it going foul. It felt great, though."
The Cajuns added another run in the sixth when UNO reliever Jay Henderson hit Dillon Guillory with the bases loaded, forcing home Long.
UNO got a run back in the eighth as Joey Butler blasted a solo homer, but Glass worked out of a jam to turn it over to Farquhar for his first save since last season.
"It definitely felt good coming out of the pen again," Farquhar said. "I could let it fly instead of trying to save myself for the whole game.
"When I was starting, I felt like I was trying to save it instead of just letting it go."
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