The Book 2007 Ragin' Cajun Baseball

[rhineaux]

_ I agree Brian. You can "what if" every loss. However, I think what hurt us more last year that the Ark. Little Rock loss was all of the non-conference losses to La. Tech, Northwestern and McNeese, just to name a few. That kills us every year. I know it is difficult to schedule, but this year is a much better schedule with Sothern Miss, Houston and Arizona State. We need to schedule that way every year. It should be a lot easier to make sure that our RPI stays where it shold be with LSU and Tulane back on the schedule. _

I certainly agree with the scheduling thing. We have 20 or 30 games every year against the sunBelt schools. there is little we can do about what they put into their programs and their RPI. And, there are a certain group of schools that we have to play every year for mid-week games, there is just only so far that you can go on a wednesday in order to be back thursday and not break the bank or your players. Therefore the USM and ASU games are vital to our improving our programs, as well as scheduling mroe games with Houston, Rice, etc (and hopefully more tulane and lsu) during the weeks.

My apologies for changing sports, but, take Gonzaga Basketball for example. When they started to really get publicity, they started really increasing their SOS. They had some decent games against some big name teams early on, and their performances certainly improved, but by the time their season was coming down to the end, their tougher schedule got them more battle ready for the post-season, and the RPI that resulted from the tougher schedule, got them higher seeding in the tourney, and thus an easier path to the ultimate goal.

[CajunProud]

_ I certainly agree with the scheduling thing. We have 20 or 30 games every year against the sunBelt schools. there is little we can do about what they put into their programs and their RPI. And, there are a certain group of schools that we have to play every year for mid-week games, there is just only so far that you can go on a wednesday in order to be back thursday and not break the bank or your players. Therefore the USM and ASU games are vital to our improving our programs, as well as scheduling mroe games with Houston, Rice, etc (and hopefully more tulane and lsu) during the weeks.

My apologies for changing sports, but, take Gonzaga Basketball for example. When they started to really get publicity, they started really increasing their SOS. They had some decent games against some big name teams early on, and their performances certainly improved, but by the time their season was coming down to the end, their tougher schedule got them more battle ready for the post-season, and the RPI that resulted from the tougher schedule, got them higher seeding in the tourney, and thus an easier path to the ultimate goal. _

I couldn't agree with you more.

I know that due to budget constraints, we are limited with travel during midweek. However, there is no reason that we can't continue to pick up games against Southern Miss, Ole Miss, Rice, Houston, Alabama, Auburn etc.

Hopefully, the scheduling will continue on the way it was arranged this year.

[Dad04]

I assume you are talking about weekend series and not mid week games in Oxford, Auburn and Tuscaloosa. Aren't those a bit out of the way for a midweek?

[BirdofParadise]

_ I assume you are talking about weekend series and not mid week games in Oxford, Auburn and Tuscaloosa. Aren't those are a bit out of the way for a midweek? _

Yes they are. Four hours is about the limit for a midweek game unless it comes during spring break, or after exams.

[GoneGolfin]

I agree Brian. You can "what if" every loss. However, I think what hurt us more last year that the Ark. Little Rock loss was all of the non-conference losses to La. Tech, Northwestern and McNeese, just to name a few.

Any one of the conference losses I previously mentioned hurt more than any of the non-conference losses last year. In fact, the Cajuns could have .

1) lost even more non-conference games than they did last season
2) won just one more conference game (any game)
3) finished with a lower RPI than they did

and they would have made the postseason! This illustrates the importance of the conference championship.

Brian

[Turbine]

UL down 4-1 Hawkins hits a homer bottom of 6th

[Turbine]

Tie game bottom of the 9th

4-4

2 away bases loaded.

[Zeebart21]

Tie game bottom of the 9th

4-4

2 away bases loaded.

Lamar chokes. Louisiana scores 3 in bottom of 9th on just one hit. UL wins 5-4

Z

[Turbine]

_ Lamar chokes. Louisiana scores 3 in bottom of 9th on just one hit. UL wins 5-4

Z _

The adrenal gland can wreck havoc on a pitchers throwing motion . . .

UL's bottom of the 9th at bat . .
1 base hit
3 walks
1 hit batter
1 past ball/wild pitch
and 1 Lamar error later . . . "CAJUNS WIN"

[NewsCopy]

Patience is a virtue, and patience gave UL's baseball team a win it may not have deserved Tuesday night. The Ragin' Cajuns, lethargic for much of their contest against nearby rival Lamar, pushed across three runs on one hit, three walks, an error, a wild pitch and a hit batsman in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 5-4 win over the Cardinals. UL (24-6) trailed 4-0 after five innings and was still down 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth before taking advantage of Lamar reliever Scott Meyer's wildness. Eventually, Devery Van De Keere drew a two-out bases-loaded walk to push home pinch runner Dustin Miller with the winning run, much to the delight of the 1,995 on hand. "We hadn't given our crowd very much to get excited about," said Cajun coach Tony Robichaux, "and they were lethargic just like we were. We finally got our crowd into it, and they helped us get it done." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

LAFAYETTE, La. - Erik Kanaby went 4-for-4 at the plate to pace the Cardinals, but Louisiana-Lafayette scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a come-from-behind 5-4 win over Lamar University in non-conference baseball action Tuesday night at Moore Field. Lamar dropped to 21-12 overall and UL-Lafayette improved to 24-6 overall. The Cardinals return to Southland Conference action this weekend with a three-game series at league newcomer Central Arkansas. The Cardinals and Bears with play a 12 p.m. doubleheader Friday and a single-game Saturday at 1 p.m. This will be the first-ever meeting between Lamar and UCA. Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, Josh Logan led off the inning by striking out on three pitches from reliever Scott Meyer. Nolan Gisclair walked. Jefferies Tatford flew out the center field for the second out in the inning. Jonathan Lucroy singled up the middle and was lifted for pinch-runner Xavier Alexander. Scott Hawkins walked to load the bases. Kolin Hatfield reached on a fielding error by first baseman Dan Hernandez, allowing Gisclair to score. Alexander scored on a wild pitch by Meyer to tie the game at 4-4. William Long was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases and Devery Van De Keere walked on four pitches to force in the game-winning run. The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

BATON ROUGE — Kolin Hatfield of Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns and Chris Denton of McNeese State were named today as the Louisiana Sportswriters Association Baseball Players of the Week. Hatfield, a junior outfielder from Cypress, Texas, was named Hitter of the Week as he batted .750 for the week with a slugging percentage of 2.000 and an on- base percentage of .600. He was 6-for-8 with four runs scored, three home runs, a double and 11 RBI. Hatfield had a career day against Florida International, tying three school records while breaking a fourth. He tied school records with five hits and three home runs, and he drove in a school-record nine batters on the day. He also established a new school mark with 15 total bases in the contest. The rest of the story

[Just1More]

This was certainly good news this morning, to those who didn't catch it last night. I wasn't at the game, but listened on streaming 1420. I couldn't believe the Lamar coach didn't settle this guy down, or pull him. But, they went thru so many pitchers, they may not have had anyone left. It is just hard to believe Lamar allowed the pitching to take a nose-dive in the bottom of the ninth. I do credit our batters for staying off of pitches and taking what was given.

[CajunProud]

_ I assume you are talking about weekend series and not mid week games in Oxford, Auburn and Tuscaloosa. Aren't those a bit out of the way for a midweek? _

Sorry for the late response, but yes, I do mean weekend series. We need to play these teams not only for RPI, but for national respect and to get us ready for the caliber of teams that we will face in regionals.

[CajunProud]

_ Any one of the conference losses I previously mentioned hurt more than any of the non-conference losses last year. In fact, the Cajuns could have .

1) lost even more non-conference games than they did last season
2) won just one more conference game (any game)
3) finished with a lower RPI than they did

and they would have made the postseason! This illustrates the importance of the conference championship.

Brian _

Once again you set me straight. Thanks Brian.