Pitched very well. Took a little while for the bats but better late than never. Hope it's a sign of things to come. Geaux Cajuns!
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Pitched very well. Took a little while for the bats but better late than never. Hope it's a sign of things to come. Geaux Cajuns!
Great game by the Cajuns. I was impressed with the Monroe team. They have a quality ball club. Once our pitching got settled in, we just overmatched them. Our bats came through in the end. Hopefully this is just the start of a great season.
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Louisiana uses five pitchers in four-hit win</b>
LOUISIANA La. — Don’t tell Louisiana’s pitching staff that Wednesday was a season opener.
The five arms the Ragin’ Cajuns ran to the mound against UL Monroe in the 2004 baseball opener were pretty much in mid-season form.
After spotting the visiting Indians a run three hitters into the game, the Cajun hurlers allowed only two base runners the rest of the way and got support from Kevin Preau’s timely triple in a 4-1 win at Moore Field.
At one point, the Cajun staff retired 17 straight batters, and the hosts finally got to ULM hurler Ryan Schwabe when Preau rifled a two-run triple to right field in the bottom of the seventh that provided a 3-1 edge.
From there, the Cajun bullpen continued a dominating performance, with Brandt Sanders, Jered Salazar, Thad Montgomery and Kraig Schambough each working one of the last four innings in support of starter Kevin Ardoin.
“They threw the ball well,” said Cajun coach Tony Robichaux. “During the week our hitters were getting after them pretty well, and I started seeing guys grow up and mature. We got some great innings from those guys ... they’re eating up some innings, and we’re going to need guys to eat up innings.”
Ardoin ate up innings and the Indians (1-2). The junior righthander gave up hits to ULM’s first three batters, and then retired 14 of the remaining 15 he faced while fanning eight.
The only break in that run was Glenn Jackson’s one-out double in the third inning, and the Indians didn’t get another baserunner until Jackson’s leadoff single in the ninth.
It took a while for the Cajuns to figure out Schwabe (1-1), who faced two over the minimum through four innings before Brad Saloom laced a one-out single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Justin Merendino’s single to left that tied the game 1-1.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com <!--
Two innings later, Schwabe walked two batters and Preau made him pay for that. The senior — an opening-day starter for the fourth straight year — laced a two-out pitch in the right-center gap to score Saloom and pinch runner Justin Bourque.
“He had started me with sliders and I was sitting on one of those and fouled it off,” said Preau. “I knew he was coming with a fast ball, and I had to put it in play and not foul it off.”
“I’ll take that one,” said ULM coach Brad Holland. “I should have gotten Schwabe out of there and brought (Matt) Guillory in right there, but I was coaching with my heart. He had just pitched his bottom off.”
Singles by Jackson and Andy and Ben Jones provided ULM a run three batters into the game, but the Indians committed a base-running error and Ardoin struck out the final two batters to end that threat. Jackson reached third base in the third inning after his double, and was ULM’s only other runner in the ninth before being erased on a game-ending double play induced by Schambough for the save.
John Coker’s single, a stolen base and an error and Micah Cockrell’s sacrifice fly provided the Cajuns an insurance run in the eighth off Guillory.
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I enjoyed the game (sat next to GURU.....)Great pitching, but the most memorable event was the foul ball by Brad Saloom. If that ball would have been between the foul poles, it would have been one of the longest home runs ever at the Tigue!
If you ask me that lead off run was just alittle off-season rust. Could have easily been a shutout. I was listening on the internet to. So I couldn't give updates once NMST came on.
:h: for those of you who didn't see the game live and those of you who were there as well.......!remember and get ready for S P E E D, first game gave you a little teas, when coker ran that ball down in right center one guy looked up and me,(as if to say) of my god, they thought it was going to drop and on his steal of second, the catcher had to hurry his throw, and merendino to third...look, he was safe trust me. on that one run, if cockrell don't move to cover second inning over. after ardoin settled down, he was dominating, the other guys looked good. i'm pumped. don't forget about the first and third play, they tried the delay steal and we played it perfect.
I was there and it was a pretty good game after Ardoin settled down. I was pretty impressed with the speed! Looks like we're going to have a fun season!
I just hope we can stay healthy this year.
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Cajuns travel to Texas State</b>
With the challenge of an often-delayed season opener now behind them, Louisisna's Ragin’ Cajun baseball squad faces its first road test this weekend. And Cajun coach Tony Robichaux knows it will be a test when his club faces Texas State.
“That’s a good baseball team,” Robichaux said of the Bobcats (6-2). “They’re off to a good start against some good teams, and they gave us all we wanted at our place last year.”
This time, it’ll be a three-game series at Bobcat Field in San Marcos, Texas, where the Cajuns (1-0) will square off with the former Southwest Texas State. Today’s first pitch is at 3 p.m., with a 3 p.m. Saturday game and a 1 p.m. Sunday game also scheduled.
UL opened its season against the Bobcats last year, winning both ends of a Saturday twinbill before falling 4-3 in extra innings on Sunday. The visitors outhit the Cajun squad in each of those three games.
But if Wednesday’s season opener is a harbinger of things to come, the Cajun pitching staff might make hits hard to come by for opponents. Five UL hurlers combined to throw two-hit ball over the final eight innings in a 4-1 win over UL Monroe, which got three hits from its first three hitters and then had only one player reach base the rest of the evening.
Kevin Ardoin (1-0, 1.80), who is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale, worked five innings against the Indians and allowed four hits and one run while striking out eight. Brandt Sanders, Jered Salazar, Thad Montgomery followed on the Cajun hill with one perfect inning each and Craig Schambough allowed one hit in the ninth before forcing a game-ending double play.
“We knew what Ardoin was going to normally do,” Robichaux said, “but last week we started seeing signs of guys growing up and maturing. We got some great innings, and we’re going to need that to give our hitters a chance. We’ve been indoors and hitting wiffle balls and tennis balls, but we started to loosen up a little after the first few innings.”
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com <!--
The Cajuns only have one night of game action behind them, and go into a series against a Bobcat team that has already played eight games including sweeps of TCU and Texas-Pan American and a two-of-three series win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Texas State lost at Texas 4-1 Tuesday in its last outing, which was the only game so far in which the Bobcats hadn’t recorded at least eight hits.
Each of Texas State’s probable starting pitchers – Paul Schappert (1-1, 6.14) today, Brian Hurley (1-0, 4.63) on Saturday and Tom Robbins (1-1, 3.94) on Sunday – has already appeared in three games this year.
“We have a good test this weekend,” Robichaux said. “It’ll be good for us to take this on the road and learn how to get it done on the road.”
The Cajuns are scheduled to start junior righthander and Texas Tech transfer Jeff Morgan in his first action today, with Schambough (0-0, 0.00, 1 save) slated for Saturday’s start.
Four of the Cajuns’ seven hits in Wednesday’s win over ULM came from new faces, with second baseman Justin Merendino (.667) getting two of those. However, the biggest hit came from senior right fielder Kevin Preau, who celebrated his fourth career opening-day start with a two-run seventh-inning triple that gave UL Lafayette a 3-1 lead.
Cajuns (1-0) at Texas St. (6-2)
Today, 3 p.m.; Saturday, 3 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.
Bobcat Field, San Marcos, Texas
TICKETS: Available at park beginning 90 minutes prior to first pitch. RADIO: KPEL-AM 1420 with Steve Peloquin, 15 minutes prior to first pitch each day. TELEVISION: none.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS: UL Lafayette – Friday, Jeff Morgan (6-2, 200, Jr., RH, 0-0, 0.00); Saturday, Kraig Schambough (6-0, 180, Sr., RH, 0-0, 1 save, 0.00); Sunday, Kevin Ardoin (6-2, 175, Jr., RH, 1-0, 1.80). Texas State – Friday, Paul Schappert (6-5, 210, Sr., 1-1, 6.14); Saturday, Brian Hurley (6-0, 205, Jr., 1-0, 4.63); Sunday, Tom Robbins (5-10, 180, Sr., 1-1, 3.94).
OFFENSIVE LEADERS: UL Lafayette – OF Kevin Preau (6-1, 219, Sr., .333, 2 RBI); 2B Justin Merendino (5-8, 170, Jr., .667, 1 RBI); SS Micah Cockrell (6-1, 195, Jr., .333, 1 RBI). Texas State – OF Evan Tierce (6-0, 190, Sr., .444, 10 RBI); OF Richard Martinez (6-0, 200, Sr., .406, 5 RBI); SS Dominic Ramos (5-10, 175, Jr., .368, 3 RBI).
SERIES: Cajuns lead all-time series 6-2 and took two of three games in a series at Moore Field last year. The teams split a twinbill in 1985 in the only previous games in San Marcos.
NEXT: Cajuns open six-game homestand Wednesday against Nicholls State, 6:30 p.m., Moore Field.
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Texas State? Isn't that the team from the movie "Necessary Roughness"? In that case, shouldn't they be the Armadillos?? :DQuote:
Originally posted by NewsCopy
<p align=justify><b>Cajuns travel to Texas State</b>
With the challenge of an often-delayed season opener now behind them, Louisisna's Ragin’ Cajun baseball squad faces its first road test this weekend. And Cajun coach Tony Robichaux knows it will be a test when his club faces Texas State.
“That’s a good baseball team,” Robichaux said of the Bobcats (6-2).