Kraig Schambough gets the win.
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Kraig Schambough gets the win.
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Brad Saloom racks a hit in 3 at bats.
Ragin Cajuns of Louisiana
Ragin' Cajuns Fan for Sure
It appears that Louisiana is not part of the United States, no mention of Hawke in the Times Picayune. When did New Orleans withdraw from the union.
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Hilltoppers salvage finale of weekend with Cajuns
LOUISIANA La — Louisiana's Ragin’ Cajun baseball team blew an opportunity to open Sun Belt Conference play with a sweep, losing 9-7 to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Sunday.
The Cajuns shot themselves in the foot on several occasions, including mental lapses in which no one covered first base on bunts by WKU which resulted in throwing errors.
“In my 16 years I have only seen someone not cover first base one time,” Cajun coach Tony Robichaux said. “But today I saw it twice and I can guarantee you that I will never see it again.”
The game began as a pitchers’ duel between Hilltopper starter Daniel Faulkner and UL’s Ian Pecoraro. Both took no hitters into the fifth inning, but the game ended in a slugfest.
The Hilltoppers (14-14, 1-2), who entered the fifth inning leading 1-0 after a passed ball allowed Judd Robertson to score from third, broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning.
The first two runs of the inning for the Hilltoppers came on a wild pitch and throwing error by Pecoraro after no one covered first base to give WKU a 3-0 lead. The next three runs came on an RBI single by Matt Johnston, a 4-6-3 double play in which the runner at third scored, and another RBI single — this time by Antone Towns.
“Pecoraro didn’t pitch badly,” Robichaux said. “He was just victimized by his defense.”
The rest of the story
Eric Narcisse
enarcisse@theadvertiser.com
Louisiana
Geaux Cajuns
baseball/luncheon
FYI, if anyone wants to know, phil devey, will be pitching for the intersquad game wednesday afternoon, probably between 3:00 and 5:00.
the cajuns will be facing mostly left handers this weekend at middle tenn.
coach rob is positive that he can get the players attention this week, but he is still unhappy with sundays game.
dallas morris, cockrell, marendino,will sit out todays practice due to bumps and bruses, nothing serious.
coach and his staff sat with coker, to talk about his situation and will try to get him going.
the other discussion was about the weekend, what happened incertain situation and why and really spent alot of time explaining the "bunt situation and the lack of execution," he vows that it will not happen again, he also mention the fact that some of the guys lacked focus. he also talked and demostrated what happened/what should have happened at key moments, like the hitters not producing, he also said at a key time in the game (at the end)he should have had coker to bunt with runners on 1st and 3rd, big mistake.
it would be nice if we had more people to come to the luncheon, which by the way will go back to mondays at 11:30. try to come.
. Ragin' Cajuns back in league play vs Blue Raiders
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Tony Robichaux is hoping the newness of Sun Belt Conference play has worn off.
His Louisiana baseball squad survived an opening weekend, taking two of three nail-biters at home against Western Kentucky. Now, the Cajuns open their league road schedule today against a Middle Tennessee squad that eliminated the Cajuns from last year’s league tournament.
But Robichaux said that loss isn’t on a lot of his players’ minds, especially since a lot of them weren’t around last May when UL lost twice to the Blue Raiders in the double-elimination meet.
“Some of them aren’t really sure who’s even in the conference,” Robichaux said Thursday as his team prepped for tonight’s 7 p.m. series opener at Reese Smith Field.
The squads will also meet at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday in the second conference series for each team.
“When you have a lot of new guys, they don’t really know what we’re going to face when we get into conference play,” Robichaux said. “Those are things you develop as you play your way through. It’s a maturity level ... the guys that are here for the second year are more seasoned and know what to expect.”
What the Cajuns (16-8, 2-1 Sun Belt) can expect is a Blue Raider team that leads the Sun Belt in pitching. Middle Tennessee (16-9, 1-2) has a 3.55 team ERA, and that’s after a conference-opening series at pitching graveyard New Mexico State. The Raiders lost 16-9 and 12-3 sandwiched around a 6-5 win.
The rest of the story
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com
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LOUISIANA
Reese Smith Field
Middle Tenn.
6
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 R H E Ragin' Cajuns 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 13 0 Blue Raiders 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 14 3 MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — John Coker’s 14th-inning single scored Dallas Morris with the eventual winning run and Kraig Schambough pitched six strong relief innings in helping Louisiana’s baseball squad survive in a 6-5 victory over Middle Tennessee here Friday in the opening game of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series.
Coker’s hit, his second in as many innings, broke a 5-5 tie and gave the Cajuns the early advantage in their first road league series of the year. The teams will play a second game at 2 p.m. today, with Josh Kohrs scheduled to pitch for the Cajuns against Middle Tennessee’s John Williams.
Louisiana (17-8, 3-1) led three times in the game only to have the Blue Raiders (16-10, 1-3) rally back each time.
Schambough (4-1) came on to pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning after one of those Middle Tennessee rallies had tied the game 4-4. He scattered five hits in those innings and stranded five Blue Raider runners, getting two ground ball outs and a strikeout sandwiched around one hit in the 14th inning.
The Cajuns held a 4-2 lead after a three-run eighth inning, but the first of two Shane Kemp homers plated pinch runner Michael McKenry in front of him in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extra innings.
Then, both teams had a chance to win in the 13th inning, with Coker leading off the Cajun half with a double. Two outs later, Justin Merendino’s ground ball was booted by second baseman Eric McNamee to allow Coker to score from third base.
However, with one out in the Blue Raider half of the 13th, Kemp took a Schambough pitch over the left-field wall for his second homer of the game to tie it at 5-5 and send the game to the 14th inning.
Ragin Cajuns of Louisiana
Geaux Cajuns
Cajuns WIN 9-3
Cajuns are 4-1 in conference and tomorrow go for the sweep aginst the raiders.
Rock and Roll
. CAJUNS TOPPLE BLUE RAIDERS IN GAME TWO
LOUISIANA
Reese Smith Field
Middle Tenn.
9
3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Ragin' Cajuns 0 1 1 3 0 0 2 2 0 9 14 0 Blue Raiders 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 1
Murfreesboro, Tenn. - After going beyond the distance Friday night, Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns and the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee looked to settle things in a more timely fashion Saturday afternoon at Reese Smith Field. The teams would get their wish and the Cajuns again emerged victorious by a final count of 9-3 thanks in part to a Leonard Guerrero homerun in the
fourth.
The three-run fourth inning started when Justin Merendino pulled the Cajuns ahead on an RBI ground out after Kevin Preau hit a seeing-eye single up the middle and advanced two bases on Ryan Core’s double to left-center.
Guerrero smashed his first longball of the season deep to left and gone in the same inning driving in Core to give the Cajuns a three-run lead.
Ian Pecoraro got his first win on the season going seven-and-one-thirds innings, surrendering three runs on six hits while fanning five. Pecoraro (1-1) helped the Cajuns to improve to 4-1 in Sun Belt play while taking the first two in the series against Middle Tennessee.
John Williams, who came into today’s game with a career 3-0 against UL, took the loss giving up five runs on seven hits through the first four innings in the game.
Williams made quick work of the top of the Cajuns lineup retiring the three in order in the first.
The Raiders struck first when Eric McNamee singled and was bunted over to second to start the bottom of the first. McNamee scored on a Derek Phillips single to right-center giving Middle the 1-0 lead after one complete.
The Cajuns evened the board at 1-1 in the second as Brad Saloom hit a one-out double to center and scored on a Kevin Preau single to right.
MTSU would reclaim the lead in the bottom of the second when Jeff Beachum walked and stole second before scoring on Josh Archer’s single to left.
The Cajuns knotted the game again, this time in the third. John Coker walked to start the top of the inning before swiping second and taking third on a throwing error. Leonard Guerrero doubled the opposite way to right to plate Coker pulling the Cajuns even again. Guerrero advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch before Phillip Hawke drew a walk on four straight offerings to put Cajuns on the corners. Brad Saloom was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Williams would pitch his way out of the jam with just the one run scoring.
Brett Carroll hit a double to lead off the bottom of the fourth for the Raiders. Carroll moved to third on a wild pitch before Jeff Beachum singled to short scoring the run to pull Middle to within two.
Matt Scott came on in relief of Williams in the fifth and retired the Louisiana side in order.
McNamee was issued a one-out free pass in the bottom of the fifth stanza. Core; however, caught McNamee stealing for the second out in the inning before Pecoraro got Chuck Akers to hit a routine fly out to center to get out of the inning.
Phillip Hawke turned on an 0-1pitch and drove it over the wall in right-center. Hawke’s solo shot, his seventh on the season, gave the Cajuns a 6-3 lead.
Micah Cockrell screamed a double down the third base line before scoring on a Preau bloop single.
Hawke added two insurance runs in the eighth with a stand-up double to right after Josh Landry doubled to left-center and Morris drew a walk putting runners on first and second. The two runs gave the visitors a 9-3 lead.
Jeff Morgan entered the game to pitch with one out in the eighth for the Cajuns. Morgan shut the door on the Blue Raiders facing only one over the minimum as the Cajuns held on to take the win.
The Cajuns and Raiders will play the series finale here tomorrow. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
LOUISIANA SI
. Middle Hangs On To Clip Cajuns 9-6 (scoreboard)
LOUISIANA
Reese Smith Field
Middle Tenn.
6
9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Ragin' Cajuns 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 6 7 0 Blue Raiders 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 13 2
Murfreesboro, Tenn.-The Blue Raiders put up eight runs in the first which proved to be an ample lead as the Cajuns leave Tennessee winning two out of three in the series against MTSU. The Cajuns move to 18-9 overall with the loss and drop to 4-2 in conference play.
Middle Tennessee jumped ahead in the bottom of the first when Eric McNamee singled to the right side off of Cajuns starter Josh Kohrs before Chuck Akers walked. Derek Phillips bunted both runners over with a sacrifice before Shawn Kemp walked on a full count. McNamee scored on a Brett Carroll flare that fell for a single to left. Nate Jaggers and Jeff Beachum each singled in a run to put the Blue Raiders on ahead by three. Michael McKenry hit a grand slam to clear the bases putting the Raiders on top 7-0.
Brandt Sanders came in to pitch in relief of Kohrs with one out in the inning.
Middle Tennessee added one more in the inning after Chase Eakes walked to bring up McNamee in the top of the lineup. Eakes advanced to second on a groundout to third before scoring on an Akers single to center.
Josh Kohrs(3-1) accepted the loss throwing only one-thirds of an inning giving up seven runs on seven hits.
BJ Church got the win throwing five-and-two-thirds innings giving up three runs on three hits while fanning ten.
Church retired the Cajuns in order in the top of the second.
Kevin Preau chopped a single up the middle with two outs for the Cajuns in the top of the third. Preau went to second when Church hit Merendino with his first offering. Josh Landry reached on a fielding error to load the bases, but the Cajuns would leave the bases full as Church recorded his third strikeout in the inning.
Church retired the Cajuns in the fourth and fifth without allowing a hit.
The Cajuns got on the board in the top of the sixth when Brad Saloom hustled out a wild pitch after swinging at strike three to reach first and reached third on Landry’s double to the wall in right-center. Justin Bourque singled to left scoring Saloom and Landry. Bourque advanced to second on an errant throw before Raiders reliever Chase Swing issued a free pass to Leonard Guerrero. Ryan Core drove in the third run of the inning with a double off the outfield wall in left that left runners on second and third. Micah Cockrell doubled down the third base line to drive in the two chasing Swing in favor of Steve Kline who got the last out of the inning for Middle.
Jered Salazar came in to work in the bottom of the sixth for the Cajuns striking out two and getting a ground ball out to retire the heart of the Raiders’ lineup.
The Cajuns got one more in the top of the seventh. Saloom started the inning with a hotshot single up the middle before Landry singled to right-center putting the runners on first and second. Rhett Buras walked to load the bases. A fielder’s choice gave Bourque an RBI pulling the Cajuns to within two.
McNamee punched a single through the left side for Middle Tennessee before Akers bunted for a single to put runners on first and second. A fielder’s choice put runners on the corners. Kemp hit a sacrifice fly to left as McNamee trotted home giving the Blue Raiders a 9-6 lead.
The Cajuns will head home today and prepare for a four game homestand starting with a Wednesday night showdown with the Demons of Northwestern State at the “Tigue” in Lafayette. Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
LOUISIANA SI
Ragin Cajuns of Louisiana
Go Cajuns
Monday's Luncheon
Can't make the luncheon today...would someone please post the highlights for us? I doubt that they've decided on the weekend rotation for NMST yet but it would be nice to know if they have....Thanks!
Louisiana
Geaux Cajuns
luncheon
coach Szefc, had the honors today, Rob was doing his tv show. alot of discussion about this pass weekends game, the good and bad, what happened at critical times nothing earth shaking, and the discuss the upcoming game against n'western (pretty good club) and would be a challenge, they beat us twice last year, and the new mexico series and how they fair.
the one exciting news was the commitment of a left hander from colorado they had been on since last september, if i can remember correctly he's about 12 and 1, has command of 3 to 4 pitches, and picked us over kansas, okla. and some others i forget.....could not release his name until signing day.
rotation for wednesday will be jeff morgan to start and then after him could see other guys to get them some innings, fri. ardoin, sat. picoraro, sunday you could see sanders, still undicided. health wise okay.
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