Cajuns hope to carry big bats from Ruston to Sun Belt opener in Jonesboro

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana Baseball officially opens its Sun Belt Conference schedule on Friday when it faces Arkansas State in a three-game series at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field.

First pitch for Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. The teams will face off on Saturday at 3 p.m. before concluding the series on Sunday at 1.

All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans able to listen to the game in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app. Live stats will be available at CajunStats.com.

Louisiana (9-7) and Arkansas State (11-7) open SBC play against each other for the second consecutive season with the Ragin' Cajuns earning a sweep in last year's series at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

The Ragin' Cajuns, who hold a 91-42 advantage in a series that dates back to 1972, have claimed the last six meetings against the Red Wolves and nine of the last 10 overall.

Louisiana opened its current four-game road trip with a 9-5 win at Louisiana Tech on Wednesday. Duncan Pastore's three hits along with solid relief on the mound helped the Ragin' Cajuns rally from an early 3-0 deficit and score nine unanswered runs.

Trey LaFleur (.417-3-10), Jose Torres (.333-1-6) and Kyle DeBarge (.309-6-18) are the top hitters for Louisiana with Josh Alexander (.286-1-7), John Taylor (.264-2-5) and Lee Amedee (.262-1-5) following.

Right-hander LP Langevin (1-0, 3.18 ERA) will take the mound in Friday's opener for Louisiana with Andrew Herrmann (1-1, 2.75 ERA) slated to pitch on Saturday and Carson Fluno (1-0, 3.78 ERA) on Sunday.

Arkansas State opened the season with eight straight victories before dropping seven of its last 10. The Red Wolves dropped a pair of midweek games earlier this week falling at Little Rock and Memphis.

Three regulars – Austin Jaslove (.444-5-13), Cason Tollett (.344-4-20) and Blake Burris (.311-2-10) – are hitting above .300 for the Red Wolves.

Right-hander Jelle van der Lelie (2-1, 5.00 ERA) will start in Friday's opener for A-State with right-handers Collin Maloney (1-0, 1.84 ERA) and Dylan Heine (1-0, 4.02 ERA) slated to pitch in the final two contests.

Tickets for Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball are available for purchase on-line at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685).

Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.

For the latest updates on Ragin' Cajuns baseball, follow on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.

GAMES 17-19 PREVIEW
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (9-7) at Arkansas State Red Wolves (11-7)

DATE/TIMES (dates and times are subject to change)
Friday – March 13, 6 p.m.
Saturday – March 16, 3 p.m.
Sunday – March 17, 1 p.m.

LOCATION/SITE
Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field (1,200) | Jonesboro, Ark.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY – 6 p.m.
LOUISIANA | RH LP Langevin (6-2, 225, Jr., Quebec City, Quebec)
'24 Stats: 1-0, 3.18 ERA, 17.0 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 11 BB, 24 K, .180 OppBA

ARKANSAS STATE | RH Jelle van der Lelie (6-5, 210, Jr., Leiden, South Holland, The Netherlands)
'24 Stats: 2-1, 5.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 18 H, 10 , 10 ER, 8 BB, 16 K, .269 OppBA

SATURDAY – 3 p.m.
LOUISIANA | LH Andrew Herrmann (6-3, 215, Jr., Kennesaw, Ga.)
'24 Stats: 1-1, 2.75 ERA, 19.2 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 10 BB, 29 K, .169 OppBA

ARKANSAS STATE | RH Collin Maloney (6-3, 230, Fr., St. Louis, Mo.)
'24 Stats: 1-0, 1.84 ERA, 14.2 IP, 13 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 16 K, .241 OppBA

SUNDAY – 1 p.m.
LOUISIANA | RH Carson Fluno (6-1, 195, Sr., Sun Prairie, Wis.)
'24 Stats: 1-0, 3.78 ERA, 16.2 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 7 BB, 19 K, .200 OppBA

ARKANSAS STATE | RH Dylan Heine (6-6, 240, Gr., Haddonfield, N.J.)
'24 Stats: 1-0, 4.02 ERA, 15.2 IP, 17 H, 11 R, 7 ER, 7 BB, 9 K, .270 OppBA

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
PRESS RELEASE

[Cajunchuck]

A nice sweep of Ark St. would be in order.

[sportsfanatic21]

A nice sweep of Ark St. would be in order.

Yes it would be.

But 2/3 on conference weekends is always a good result.

Sweeping is a tough task, especially on the road

[Big Buds]

Yes it would be.

But 2/3 on conference weekends is always a good result.

Sweeping is a tough task, especially on the road

This is still stAte…anything other than a sweep is a disappointment.

[sportsfanatic21]

This is still stAte…anything other than a sweep is a disappointment.

We can agree to disagree. stAte has wins over Ole Miss and Missouri St this year. And an 11-7 record. They are a capable team, unlike some past seasons.

Winning 2 of 3 in road conference series will always be a good result.

FYI, Missouri State went to S. Miss for a weekend and won 1 of 3. The 2 losses were 5-4 and 4-3.

[CajunT]

This is still stAte…anything other than a sweep is a disappointment.

Yea, what have you seen to suggest to you the Cajuns should sweep Arkansas State this weekend? Seriously, this is not last year's team. One game and one series at a time.

[RaginDave]

stAte jumped out to a great start on the season going 8-0, but those 8 wins, with the exception of Ole Miss (who is pretty good) were against some really bad teams. They beat a 2-13 Omaha team 3 times, a 3-8 Arkansas Pine Bluff team, a 5-11 Lindewood team 3 times in those 8 games. Since that 8-0 start, they have gone 3-7, a loss to a 7-10 Central Arkansas team, lost 2 of 3 to a 9-6 Missouri State team , lost to an 11-6 Murray state team and took 2 of 3 against a 3-11 Eastern Illinois team and most recently lost to Little Rock and Memphis in drubbings combined score in those games was 25-9 including a 12-2 loss to LR and a 13-7 loss to Memphis, who is not good.

This is a better stAte team than what we have seen in the past, but they are by no way good. It is hard to sweep in baseball and this is going to be no exception to go on the road and sweep them, but if we come back with more than 1 loss it will be a huge disappointment, on paper we should sweep them, but the game is not played on paper, it is played on the field, and anything can happen once you get on the field.

The SOS for stAte so far is #258, that is out of 305 teams in baseball and that includes 3 games vs Missouri State that currently has an RPI of 12, Murray State who is 40, Ole Miss who is 52 and UCA who is 89. Most of their 11 wins have been against putrid teams.

[Big Buds]

We can agree to disagree. stAte has wins over Ole Miss and Missouri St this year. And an 11-7 record. They are a capable team, unlike some past seasons.

Winning 2 of 3 in road conference series will always be a good result.

FYI, Missouri State went to S. Miss for a weekend and won 1 of 3. The 2 losses were 5-4 and 4-3.

That is fair. Calling 2/3 a disappointment might be a tad of a stretch. I just know stAte really hasn’t played a tough schedule.

[Big Buds]

Yea, what have you seen to suggest to you the Cajuns should sweep Arkansas State this weekend? Seriously, this is not last year's team. One game and one series at a time.

It has more to do with whom stAte has played thus far. But you’re not off in what you are saying.

[RaisingCajun08]

International Friday night match up on the mound.

[NOCajun]

A nice sweep of Ark St. would be in order.

A nice sweep of EVERYBODY is in order!!

#cULture
#WeAreLouisiana
#GeauxCajuns
#SweepstAte