Farquhar's arm yields one pitch to Hightower's bat
LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns (25-7, 10-4 Sun Belt) baseball team suffered their first loss at home this season as they dropped a 6-5 decision to Western Kentucky (12-15, 6-5 SBC) in 10 innings at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.
Tied 5-5 in the 10th inning, pitcher Danny Farquhar recorded the first two outs of the inning by way of a ground out and a strikeout. Western Kentucky’s Matt Hightower lifted a 0-1 pitch over the right centerfield wall to give the Hilltoppers a 6-5 advantage.
The Cajuns put the tying run on base as pinch hitter Matt Hicks drew a base on balls. Hicks advanced to second on a wild pitch, but back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout ended the inning and the Cajuns chance at a comeback.
Farquhar (2-2) took the loss for the Cajuns. The sophomore surrendered just two hits in 3.1 innings of work, but gave up the game winning homerun to take the loss. Farquhar fanned five batters without issuing a walk in the game.
Offensively, Nolan Gisclair and Jonathan Lucroy both finished the game 3-for-5. The duo had three singles apiece.
Jefferies Tatford and Scott Hawkins both had a homerun apiece in the game. For Tatford, the homer was number six on the year, while Hawkins’ dinger as number nine.
After a slight weather delay, the Cajuns and Toppers got underway and the Ragin’ Cajuns didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard. A one-out bunt single by Gisclair gave the Cajuns their first base runner of the afternoon. A walk by Tatford gave UL runners at first and second. Lucroy singled through the left side of the infield scoring the speedy Gisclair from second. The Ragin’ Cajuns were unable to plate any more runners, but at the end of one inning of play, the Cajuns had a 1-0 lead.
The Cajuns added a run in the bottom of the second inning. Devery Van De Keere singled through the right side of the infield, but he was erased as William Long bunted into a fielder’s choice. Long stole second and advanced to third on a fly ball to deep right field. Gisclair singled up to score Long from third and give UL a 2-0 after two innings of play.
In the fourth inning, the Hilltoppers scored a pair of runs to knot the score at 2-2. With one out, Moody hit a batter with a pitch. A single and a fielding error gave WKU runners at second and third with just one out. A double down the right field line plated two runs and tied the score.
The Cajuns used the bottom of the fourth to regain the lead. Devon Bourque singled to left field to start off the inning. Josh Logan put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner. Tatford stepped to the plate with two outs and proceeded to hit his sixth homerun of the season. The ball just cleared the right centerfield wall, but gave the Cajuns a two-run advantage.
Western Kentucky tied the score once again with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. After striking out the first batter, Moody surrendered back to back singles to left field. A triple to right field cleared the bases and tied the score at 4-4.
The Cajuns broke the tie in the fifth inning. Hawkins hit his ninth homerun of the year to lead off the inning for UL’s only run of the inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Hilltoppers used a pair of hits to tie the score. With one out, WKU was able to get a single up the middle. A passed ball allowed the runner to move to second base. After a strike out recorded the second out of the inning, the Toppers got a single up the middle to score the runner and tie the game.
The game would remain tied at 5-5 until Hightower’s homerun in the top of the 10th inning.
LOUISIANA SI
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Re: Ragin' Cajuns, Hilltoppers split Saturday contests. UL wins series
Originally Posted by CajunCherokee
