The Book: 2004 Baseball

[NewsCopy]

PREGAME

Louisiana tries to keep its bats hot against Siena.

LOUISIANA La. – Both Louisiana and Siena College will be looking for the answer to one question tonight when the clubs open a two-game baseball series at Moore Field.

The question: How will their teams fare when their known pitching quantities are not available?

The Ragin’ Cajuns (5-2) are coming off a weekend series against Stony Brook in which they got three stellar starting mound performances from Kevin Ardoin, Kraig Schambough and Josh Kohrs. They’re the front-runners for the squad’s weekend pitching rotation slots after holding the visiting Seawolves to three runs and striking out 28 in three games.

Siena, meanwhile, used a lot of arms in a three-game series against New Orleans that wrapped up Monday night, and will play its fourth and fifth games in as many days when the clubs meet tonight and Wednesday in a pair of 6:30 p.m. games at Moore Field.

In other words, both teams may go short stints with several pitchers in these two games.

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

[NewsCopy]

SIENA   Tigue Moore Field   LOUISIANA 6   Montgomery gets the win as Louisiana produces its highest run total in over 2 years.   19

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9         Runs Hits Errors Saints 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3         6 9 4 Ragin' Cajuns 5 3 4 0 3 1 0 3           19 21 0

Cajun bats rip Siena’s pitching

LOUISIANA La. – Dallas Morris had been waiting for Tuesday night. So had Phillip Hawke and Adam Massiatte. And coach Tony Robichaux was ready for it to happen.

That whole group had been anxious for their Louisiana baseball team to bust out offensively, and they did on Tuesday with Siena College the unfortunate victim.

The Ragin' Cajuns posted their highest run total since the end of the 2001 season and rapped out 19 hits, nine of them for extra bases, in rolling to an easy 19-6 win over the New York-based Saints in the opener of a two-game series.

“Our hitters did a good job swinging,” said Robichaux. “They were pitching us away and our guys were taking it that way. I thought they did a lot of good things at the plate.”

The Cajuns (6-2), winners of four straight, will wrap up the short Siena series tonight, with righthander Jeff Morgan (0-0) slated to start opposite Saints righthander Ken Grant (0-1) for the 6:30 p.m. Moore Field contest.

Robichaux’s troops hadn’t had more than 12 hits in any of their first seven games, but they had that through four innings on Tuesday and had a 12-2 lead by the time starting pitcher Thad Montgomery finished his predetermined three innings.

Every member of the Cajun starting lineup hit safely, and that ninesome totaled 18 hits as part of UL’s highest hit total since last season’s UNO series.

The Cajuns had their highest run production since a 20-16 win at New Mexico State, and tallied their most runs in a non-Las Cruces game since the 19-8 win over Houston in the 1999 NCAA Regional championship game.

Morris was one of the leaders of that hit parade with the squad’s first four-hit game of the year, including extra-base RBI hits in each of the first two innings off Siena loser Joshua Burnett (0-1).

“Hitting’s contagious,” said Morris, who got his four hits in five innings before leaving with a tight hamstring. “Once you start we have lots of guys that can keep it going. It’s good for all of us to get on the same page.”

The rest of the story

[Oldman]

have gotten a few games under the belt and feeling mighty good. Hey! listen up....the baseball noon luncheon starts Tuesday 11:30, mardi gras room, get all the latest news and updates, and the team will be in attendance put it on your schedule, that's the 9th of march. Geaux Cajuns. Oh! you also get some Robeism.

[NewsCopy]

PRE SERIES

For most of the first three weeks of the 2004 college baseball season, Louisiana's squad has faced teams that, as coach Tony Robichaux says, have more dirt in their spikes.

This weekend, those spikes are on different feet, and Robichaux is hoping that his Ragin' Cajuns can take advantage.

The Cajuns travel to Wichita, Kan., for a three-game series with nationally-ranked Wichita State that begins with a 3 p.m. game this afternoon. The teams meet Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. in the series' other games.

The host Shockers, ranked as high as ninth in one national poll, haven't been in game action yet this year. WSU normally plays in one warm-weather tournament early in the season, but on this year's schedule teams are making return trips to the plains.

That includes the Cajuns, after the Shockers played in Louisiana's Mardi Gras Ball last year.

Probably, I would have started the third or fourth week of February if at all possible, said long-time WSU coach Gene Stephenson. We're way behind a lot of people. By the time we've played our first weekend, Kansas will have played 24 games.

The Cajuns (7-2) can sympathize, but their problem hasn't been scheduling. It's been weather, with four early games already postponed due to rain and wet grounds. Still, they've played nine more games than the Shockers, and enter today's contest on a five-game win streak.

They haven't played any, so that could be good for us, Robichaux said. I know we're a lot better team than we were for our first game. That could be an advantage for us, but they (WSU) are still twice the club that we've been playing.

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

[NewsCopy]

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:

Today
UL, Kevin Ardoin (6-2, 175, Jr., RH, 1-1, 0.92);
WSU, Mike Pelfrey (6-7, 215, So., RH).

Saturday
UL, Kraig Schambough (6-1, 190, Sr., RH, 2-0, 2.40);
WSU, Steve Uhlmansiek (6-3, 170, So., LH).

Sunday
UL, Josh Kohrs (6-4, 225, Jr., RH, 1-0, 1.64);
WSU, Mat Jakubov (6-4, 190, Jr., RH).


OFFENSIVE LEADERS:

UL 2B Justin Merendino (5-8, 170, Jr., RH, .464, 7 RBI), 3B Dallas Morris (5-10, 197, Jr., RH, .368, 1 HR, 7 RBI), CF John Coker (5-8, 175, Jr., RH, .320, 6-7 SB).

WSU first games.



SERIES: The Shockers lead the series 6-2 including a 4-1 advantage in games played in Wichita. The Cajuns' only win at Eck Stadium was a 9-7 victory in the finale of their 2002 three-game series. WSU took a 11-4 win in Lafayette last year during UL Lafayette's Mardi Gras Ball.

LAGNIAPPE: Cajun shortstop Micah Cockrell will not play this weekend, staying home to get more evaluation of a hairline fracture in his foot. He could be cleared to play as early as Wednesday's next home game against Nicholls State, or could miss two to three weeks Pelfrey, WSU's opening day starter, is on the 40-man watch list for the Roger Clemens Award, given to the nation's top collegiate pitcher Today's game is WSU's latest start since 1980. Only 22 of the nation's 300-plus Division I teams have yet to begin their season, virtually all located in the Northeast The Shockers are 25-1 in home openers in Gene Stephenson's 26 years as coach The Cajuns' longest winning streak last year was seven games.

source

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

[1stTake]

I know the Cajuns are up by 2 but I want my scoreboard, don't expect me to jump on any other board and promote the scoreboard looking like a goofball if you won't have it every game.

LOUISIANA   Eck Stadium   Wichita State 2   Louisiana played well for 7+ innings before giving up all 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th   4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9         Runs Hits Errors Ragin' Cajuns 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0         2 3 1 Shockers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 x         4 8 1

scoreboard interposed by staff

[DieHard1280]

Cajuns go into the 8th inning up 2-0, then give up a flare double and then 3 straight homers, and go down easily in the 9th to lose 4-2.

[CajunFanatic91]

...

[NewsCopy]

WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State scored in only one inning against Louisiana’s baseball team here Friday afternoon, but that inning was enough to catapult the ninth-ranked Shockers to a 4-2 victory.

Trailing the entire game, the Shockers hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the bottom of the eighth inning to win their season opener.

“We needed to be challenged in a game like this,” said Ragin' Cajun head coach Tony Robichaux. “We like playing the best, and we’ll continue to get better because of this.”

The teams play the second game of their three-game series today at 2 p.m. at Eck Stadium.

The Cajuns (7-3), having a five-game win streak snapped, drew first blood with an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning when Justin Merendino reached second base on a throwing error by Shocker shortstop Nick McCoola. He moved to third on John Coker’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on another sacrifice bunt off the bat of Dallas Morris.

“We got a gimme in the first inning,” said Robichaux. “We were able to capitalize on their mistake without getting a hit, and that was a positive.”

Morris put the Cajuns up 2-0 in the top half of the fourth inning when he jacked his second homer of the year over the left-center-field fence off WSU starter Mike Pelfrey to provide the two-run advantage.

Meanwhile, Cajun starter Kevin Ardoin was mowing down the Shocker batting order. Through seven innings, the junior had shut out WSU on only five hits.

Wichita State, however, did all the damage needed in the eighth.

The rest of the story

Steve Pelloquin

[snote]

Originally posted by Chuck
don't expect me to jump on any other board and promote the scoreboard looking like a goofball if you won't have it every game.

why yes.. turbine quit work.. or at least call in sick during afternoon games... then again i have to ponder if a scoreboard would.. agghh.. nevermind (smiling)

[DieHard1280]

Could someone pleeeaaaasssseee keep me updated on baseball scores today? I am at work and cannot listen over the net or access the delphi site from here. Thanks, guys.

GEAUX CAJUNS

[DieHard1280]

Thank you, sir.