The Book 2007 Ragin' Cajun Baseball

[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.

[NewsCopy]

In past years, when UL prepared for a baseball series with Western Kentucky, the Ragin' Cajuns could figure on having success - if not a sweep - against the Hilltoppers. But this is not your old WKU squad, and nobody's assuming anything any more. Western has a winning Sun Belt Conference record through four league weekends, and the Hilltoppers are coming off a two-of-three series win over preseason league favorite Troy. The Toppers also took two of three at Florida International in their previous conference series, exactly the same result that the Cajuns had at FIU last weekend. It's another stiff test for the Cajuns (24-6, 9-3), who have a share of first place in the Sun Belt riding on a weekend series that begins at 6:30 p.m. today at Moore Field. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Turner]

I heard an interview early in the week where the coach was Lafayetting us to death. I swear he thinks our name is Lafayette I hope we sweep.

[NewsCopy]

UL's baseball team laced three home runs in the first four innings Friday night, but the Moore Field crowd saved its biggest ovation for a curtain call. That came just before Western Kentucky batted in the top of the ninth inning, when Danny Farquhar came on in relief of Cajun starter Buddy Glass. Before Farquhar began pitching, the UL faithful began chanting, "Buddy, Buddy." The junior righthander came out with a quick cap wave, much to the delight of the 2,526 on hand that braved cool conditions to watch the Cajuns take an 8-2 win over the Hilltoppers in their Sun Belt Conference series opener. Glass deserved the ovation, after checking the 'Toppers on eight hits and two early runs while fanning seven. "Coach told me they were giving me the curtain call, and to go out and take it," Glass quipped after his second-longest outing of the year. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

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

[GoneGolfin]

Folks,

If you would like to take in a little College baseball tomorrow afternoon while tracking what should be an interesting Masters finish, you have some choices if you have DirecTV. In fact, you can take in a little Tulane preview.

12pm South Carolina at Florida (series tied 1-1) (Channel 73, 206) ESPNHD and ESPN
12pm Georgia Tech at Miami (series tied 1-1) Channel 629
12pm Bethune Cookman at NC A&T (BC leads series 2-0) Channel 609 (ESPNU)
1pm Memphis at Tulane (Memphis leads series 2-0) Channel 610 (CSTV)
10:30pm Tennessee at Kentucky (Tennessee leads series 2-0) Channel 631

There are also various replays of ...
Stanford at Arizona State (Sun Devils swept the Cardinal this weekend)
Georgia Tech at Miami
Tennessee at Kentucky
Oklahoma at Baylor (Baylor won series 2-1)

Happy Easter everyone and God Bless!

Brian