The Book: 2004 Baseball

[RaginRash]

Geaux Gators

[CajunFanatic91]

Congrats to the Cajuns on the win and good luck againts Middle Tennesse State tomorrow!

[1stTake]

12-8
Yahooooo

[NewsCopy]

BURAS, PREAU SHOW CAJUNS DEPTH

Mobile, Ala.- Rhett Buras and Kevin Preau each went deep twice finishing with five RBIs each in the contest as the Ragin' Cajuns rolled to a 12-8 victory over the New Mexico State Aggies Wednesday afternoon at Stanky Field.

A five run seventh inning gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a four-run cushion securing the squad’s first round one Tournament win since 1999.

Heavy-hitting designated hitter \Buras was at it again, this time launching a three-run shot deep to left and gone to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 10-8 lead. Buras’s second longball of the afternoon came after Micah Cockrell singled to third and Phillip Hawke drew a free pass to start the bottom of the seventh frame.

Brad Saloom kept the inning going for the Cajuns with a walk before Preau went deep for the second time in the ball game to give the team in vermilion and white a 12-8 lead.

Brandt Sanders came on in relief of starter Jered Salazar to earn the win. Sanders (2-4) allowed one run on two hits while fanning five through three and one-thirds innings. Salazar threw five and two-thirds innings getting key outs to keep his club in the ball game.

Rory Coppinger took thius afternoon’s loss for NMSU. Coppinger (7-2) allowed seven runs on six hits through four innings of work in relief.

The Aggies jumped ahead early in the top of the first when leadoff hitter Chris Ewen singled to center and scored on Dustin Mote’s two-run shot over the wall in left giving NMSU a 2-0 lead.

Salazar settled in striking out a pair en route to retiring the New Mexico State side in order in the top of inning two.

The Cajuns cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second. Ryan Core singled through the left side to score Josh Landry who reached base on a fielder’s choice.

Buras gave the Cajuns a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third with his ninth homerun of the season. The two-run bomb plated Cockrell who singled down the third base line and swiped second earlier in the inning. Buras’s homerun was his fourth jack in six days at Stanky Field.

Emory Davies went deep for New Mexico State scoring Adrian Ballesteros who drew a walk. Davies’s two-run homerun gave the Aggies a 4-3 lead.

Preau singled in a run to tie the game at 4-4 after Saloom and Core started the bottom of the fourth with a pair of singles off of NMSU starter Brian Gausman. Preau’s base knock put Cajuns on the corners.

John Coker gave the Cajuns the lead with an RBI fielder’s choice that allowed Core to cross home.

Coppinger came on in relief of Gausman in the bottom of the fifth. Coppinger issued a walk to Hawke, but pitched his way out of the inning without allowing the Louisiana baserunner to advance.

Davies singled a run for New Mexico State in the top of the sixth tying the game at five apiece. Mark Aranda dropped a two-out single into right-center just before Salazar walked Ballesteros.

Brandt Sanders came on in relief to face Gavin Monjaras. Sanders surrendered a homerun to Monjaras on an 0-1 count giving NMSU an 8-5 advantage.

Preau pulled the Cajuns to within one at 8-7, with a two-run shot that left the yard over the fence in left. Preau’s homer plated Saloom who singled to reach base.

Sanders closed out the Aggies getting the last nine outs without allowing a run to score.

[Turbine]

Originally posted by LSU Bob
Here is a quote from Kevin Garnet

Um this is Garnett's quote

"It's for all the marbles. I'm sitting in the house loading up the pump, I'm loading up the Uzis, I've got a couple of M-16s, couple of nines, couple of joints with some silencers on them, couple of grenades, got a missile launcher. I'm ready for war."

Big difference between the 2 don't you think?

[NewsCopy]

Mobile, Ala. - University of Louisiana has put four players on the 2004 All-Sun Belt Baseball Teams as voted on by the coaches of teams in the Sun Belt Conference.

Justin Bourque was named All Sun Belt Conference first team designated hitter. Bourque hit .333 with 12 doubles, one triple and six homeruns while driving in 24 in the 2004 campaign for the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Making the second team were catcher Ryan Core, first baseman Phillip Hawke, and third baseman Dallas Morris.

Core finished the regular season with a .313 batting average in conference play. Four of Core’s 10 homeruns have been hit off of Sun Belt Conference pitchers. Core is also known for his defensive prowess posting a .994 overall fielding mark this season.

Hawke hit .397 in conference play this year with five of nine total doubles and four of 10 longballs coming in conference games. Hawke has driven in 42 runs for the Cajuns this year.

Before a May 1st injury sidelined Morris for the remainder of the season, the University of Louisiana third baseman was able to post a .373 average with nine doubles, five triples and 12 homeruns. Morris picked up 51 RBIs in his shortened season.

The Cajuns start play in the Sun Belt Conference tournament today at 3:30 p.m. in Mobile at Stanky Field. The number four seeded Ragin’ Cajuns will take on the Aggies of New Mexico State in round one.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana slugs its way to a 12-8 victory.

MOBILE, Ala. — No three-hole hitter, no four-hole hitter, no number one starter.

No problem.

All UL Lafayette’s beaten-up baseball team had to do was find a couple of new heroes here Wednesday, and because they did the Ragin’ Cajuns were successful in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

High school teammates Rhett Buras and Kevin Preau each hit a pair of home runs and Brandt Sanders posted a solid relief pitching effort as the Cajuns won a 12-8 slugfest with New Mexico State at South Alabama’s Eddie Stanky Field.

The fourth-seeded Cajuns (32-21), taking a first-day win in the league tournament for the first time since 1999, advanced to today’s 6:30 p.m. contest against top-seeded Middle Tennessee. MTSU took an easy 12-2 run-rule win over Arkansas State in Wednesday’s second game.

Buras and Preau, both products of Holy Cross High in New Orleans, combined for the four homers and 10 runs batted in. More importantly, they helped the Cajun squad rally from deficits three different times in the see-saw contest.

“We’re learning how to answer,” said Cajun coach Tony Robichaux. “We’re learning how to play nine innings. All we had to do was pitch some.”

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

[NewsCopy]

MOBILE, Ala. — They have been teammates for just about as long as they can remember.

The last time that Kevin Preau and Rhett Buras sat in opposing dugouts was somehwere around their ninth birthdays.

“We started playing against each other when we were about six,” Buras said of some long-ago games in New Orleans Recreation Department leagues. “But we’ve been playing together since we were nine.”

From the sixth grade on, they were teammates at Holy Cross, and even when they were separated for two years it was only 90 minutes apart at South Louisiana schools across the southern Interstate — Buras at Southeastern La. and Preau at UL Lafayette. In 2003, they teamed once again on the Ragin’ Cajun squad for their final two collegiate seasons.

But in all that time — untold games in New Orleans all-star leagues, nearly a decade at Holy Cross, summer leagues and the past two years with the Cajuns — the pair has never had a day like Wednesday at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

By the time they sat on opposite sides of head coach Tony Robichaux at a postgame press conference, the pair had accounted for four home runs, 10 runs batted in and three rallies from behind, and the Cajuns had a 12-8 victory over New Mexico State.

And both wore big smiles.

“It sure feels good to have two guys from the same high school do this,” said Preau. “But it feels even better to hit the way this team is hitting right now.”

The rest of the story

[BonCajun]

I was real proud of the Cajuns early in the year. I remember thinking a twenty and nine record, this is going to be a fun season. Then I don't know something kind of happened. I got a little down on the team and myself and figured it was over, everybody was getting hurt, coach says wait till next year. Now I'm talking to a friend of mine and he tells me USL won (I didn't correct him) and LSU lost and Tulane lost in their tournaments. I guess I was right in the beginning, I have a reason to be real proud of my Cajuns, won't you join me?

[RedBug58]

Coach Robe is the baseball god....

He brings in excellent talent and develops it. Pitchers are going down with injuries everywhere in college baseball. I don't think most human bodies were designed to whip the arm like that many repetitive times. The last time we had a season low in injuries on the pitching staff was 2000?? Dohman, Gabriel, & Gros (& my man O'Brien) Those were the days.