Hawkins, Moody Lead Cajuns to 12-1 Win
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Louisiana erupted for a season-high 12 runs, while Scott Hawkins (Collierville, Tenn.) accounted for a career-high six RBI as the Ragin’ Cajuns demolished the UALR Trojans 12-1 Friday night at Gary Hogan Field.
Even with Hawkins’ 4-for-4 outing, Friday’s top performance belonged to senior southpaw Hunter Moody (Clinton, La.). Moody (4-1) earned his 26th career victory on the mound, tying former Cajuns Andy Gros and Scott Dohmann for the most in school history. Moody lasted a season-high eight innings, allowing one run on six hits with nine strikeouts. Twenty-one (21) of Moody’s 24 outs came via either strikeout or groundout.
Moody’s nine strikeouts give him 241 career punchouts, moving him to within four of fifth place on the school’s career list.
Hawkins went 4-for-4, scoring four runs with a double, home run and career-high six RBI. His four hits tied a career-high which he set against Oral Roberts earlier this season.
Freshman Matt Goulas (New Iberia, La.) also registered a career-high four hits, going 4-for-5 with two RBI. Hawkins and Goulas accounted for eight of the Cajuns’ 13 hits.
Josh Logan (Magee, Miss.) went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a RBI.
UALR’s David Klumpp (1-4) was touched for the loss as the Cajuns victimized the lefty for nine runs – eight earned – on eight hits in five innings. Klumpp struck out two batters, while walking three.
Louisiana didn’t waste any time showing its much-improved offensive numbers as the Cajuns grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Logan laced a lead-off double down the right field line. Logan later dented home plate on a massive two-run home run to left field by Hawkins for a 2-0 Cajuns lead.
The Cajuns added three runs to their lead in the third. Hawkins drove in his third run with a RBI single to centerfield that scored Logan for a three-run cushion. Goulas followed with a RBI single to right field and later came around to score on a Matt Apfel fielding error in right field.
UALR broke the Cajuns’ scoreless hold in the bottom half of the third. Moody allowed the first two Trojans he faced to reach base with a lead-off walk and single down the left field line. That lead runner would later score on Zach Rowles’ RBI ground out, cutting into the deficit, 5-1.
Logan’s RBI double in the fourth inning regained a five-run lead, 6-1. Louisiana, however, missed an opportunity to potentially put away the Trojans early in the fifth inning. Hawkins and Goulas tallied back-to-back singles to open the inning, but were stranded at the conclusion of the frame as Matt Hicks (Houston, Texas), Tyler Benzel (Groveland, Fla.) and Justin Robichaux (Crowley, La.) were retired in succession.
Louisiana slammed the door on the Trojans in the sixth accounting for five runs, despite only registering two hits. With the bases loaded, Hawkins delivered a one-out three-RBI double down the left field line to increase the Cajuns lead to 9-1. Goulas and Hicks each drove in a run to extend the Cajuns’ stranglehold to 11-1.
Benzel registered the Cajuns’ 12th run of the night on a RBI single that scored Hawkins for a comfortable 12-1 lead.
Louisiana and UALR return to Gary Hogan Field Saturday to square off in game two of the three-game Sun Belt Conference series. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
RaginCajuns.com
Chris Yandle
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