The Opponent: Simoneaux's Bulldogs progressing

[NewsCopy]

Wade Simoneaux knew it would take time to revive Louisiana Tech's baseball program when he left the University of Louisiana in August of 2001.

But over the last three seasons, Simoneaux must have thought that time was standing still, or at best only creeping by.

The Bulldogs were 21-37, 18-34 and 20-38 in those three years - not exactly what Simoneaux hoped for when he took the Tech job after seven seasons as Tony Robichaux's top aide with the Ragin' Cajuns.

That's probably why even the low-key Simoneaux was still pumped up Wednesday, three days after Tech had swept a season-opening road series at McNeese State.

"We did a lot of things that we didn't do last year," Simoneaux said of his team's 3-1, 8-4, 9-1 broom-wielding against the Cowboys. "We had a lot of two-out hits, and we were fairly consistent on the mound with our starters.

"We don't have any superstars, but we've got 10 or 12 arms that we can put out there and we've got athletes who compete in the box."

The Gonzales native is hoping that competitiveness continues beginning Friday when he returns to Moore Field for the first time since taking the Tech post. The Bulldogs provide the opposition for the Cajuns' season-opening weekend that kicks off Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Fans behind the Cajun dugout who watched Simoneaux in the third-base coaching box during some of the best seasons in UL history will welcome him back ... a little.

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[snote]

am i wrong in thinking wade has only been gone for 2 years and this season is his third up in "rustin".. ooohh if so, it's going to be a tough few days for daniel (grins).. whereas i can just erase my post if wrong.. (tee-hee)

interview on radio (2-10-05) he comes on show with 35 minutes left in show
http://sportsnoteradio.com/archives/...wed_020905.mp3

don't forget the free gumbo being served at Legends on Bertrand saturday at 12 before the game.. hope to see you all there..

[snote]

BULLDOGS LOOK TO BUILD ON GOOD START AT UL-LAFAYETTE

RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech will travel to South Louisiana for another challenging series this weekend at Louisiana-Lafayette beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Tech (3-0) and the Cajuns will also play on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Games one and three of the series will be broadcast on KNBB-FM (99.3) in Ruston and on the Internet at www.z1075fm.com. Sunday's game will be televised on KLAF-TV in the Lafayette area.

The Bulldogs are coming off a three game sweep at McNeese State as Tech got solid pitching in all three games. The Cajuns have not played a game yet this year.

Gary Holik started well with five hits, as did freshman centerfielder Adam Cobb with hits in all three contests. Travis Granberry and Gil Laird both drove in three runs apiece in the Bulldog sweep.

UL-Lafayette is the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt Conference and this is considered the best UL-Lafayette team since its 2000 squad that went to the College World Series.

"This will be another tough weekend but it will be a good challenge for us and an environment that I want to put our players in front of," said Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux. "Louisiana-Lafayette has a talented group of guys that we will be up against but the bottom line is we need to go in there and play good defense, throw strikes and give ourselves a chance."
Simoneaux will be leading his team against an UL-Lafayette program that he spent seven years as an assistant coach with prior to being hired at Tech.

"I am looking forward to this weekend," said Simoneaux. "We had some tremendous success the time I was there and I owe a lot Tony Robichaux for giving me the opportunity to coach there for seven years and I would not be where I am today without him. The seniors on his team right now were my last recruiting class, so I know what we are up against this weekend."

The Bulldogs will go with the same starting pitching rotation as last week with Clayton Meyer getting the ball on Friday followed by Mitch Tucker on Saturday and Andrew Lassere in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.

This will be the first time Tech has faced the Cajuns since leaving the Sun Belt Conference. The Bulldogs swept three games from UL-Lafayette in the last meetings between the two teams in April of 2001 in Ruston.

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don't forget the free gumbo being served at Legends on Bertrand saturday at 12 before the game.. hope to see you all there..

[snote]

for anyone one with questions about the cajuns.. coach john szefc will start the cajun assistant's show in the morning.. he will be in at 9:30 (cst) on espn1420 and the net @ sportsnoteradio

[snote]

LAFAYETTE, La. - Kevin Ardoin tossed six and two-third innings of no-hit baseball as Louisiana-Lafayette handed Louisiana Tech its first loss of the season by a 10-0 score before 3,121 at Tigue Moore Field on Friday night.

A Ryan Hamilton single in the seventh inning was the Bulldogs (3-1) lone hit of the contest.

Ardoin (1-0) struck out eight Bulldogs in his first outing of the season after deciding to return for his senior year at UL-Lafayette after being a 12th round choice by the Texas Rangers last June.

Louisiana-Lafayette (1-0) scored two runs in the third and three in the fifth off Tech starter Clayton Meyer (1-1), who was tagged with the loss. A John Coker triple to right-center field gave UL-Lafayette the first run of the game in the third inning. Coker went on to score on a double by Justin Merendino down the left field line.

In the fifth, the Cajuns added three more runs with Josh Landry providing the big blow with a two run single in the frame to give UL-Lafayette a 5-0 lead.
Meyer allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings. The senior did strike out six Cajun hitters.
The Cajuns added a pair of runs in the seventh inning to increase their lead to 8-0.

The teams will conclude the series with a Saturday doubleheader scheduled for a noon first pitch.

Notes: Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux coached for seven years as an assistant at UL-Lafayette prior to coming to Tech in 2002 . UL-Lafayette presented with his framed jersey from his time with the Cajuns that included a appearance in the 2000 College World Series . Simoneaux's son, Thomas, threw out the first pitch at the game.


Louisiana-Lafayette 10, Louisiana Tech 0 (Feb 11, 2005 at Lafayette, La)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Louisiana Tech...... 000 000 000 - 0 1 1 (3-1)
Louisiana-Lafayette. 002 030 32X - 10 11 0 (1-0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Louisiana Tech - Meyer; Alverson(6); Moseley(7); Bascle(7); Allen(8).
Louisiana-Lafayette - Ardoin, K; Sanders, B(8).
Win-Ardoin, K(1-0) Loss-Meyer(0-1) T-2:39 A-3122
Game: LT4
--------
Originally posted by snote
LAFAYETTE, La. - Kevin Ardoin tossed six and two-third innings of no-hit baseball as Louisiana-Lafayette handed Louisiana Tech its first loss of the season by a 10-0 score before 3,121 at Tigue Moore Field on Friday night.

A Ryan Hamilton single in the seventh inning was the Bulldogs (3-1) lone hit of the contest.

Ardoin (1-0) struck out eight Bulldogs in his first outing of the season after deciding to return for his senior year at UL-Lafayette after being a 12th round choice by the Texas Rangers last June.

Louisiana-Lafayette (1-0) scored two runs in the third and three in the fifth off Tech starter Clayton Meyer (1-1), who was tagged with the loss. A John Coker triple to right-center field gave UL-Lafayette the first run of the game in the third inning. Coker went on to score on a double by Justin Merendino down the left field line.

In the fifth, the Cajuns added three more runs with Josh Landry providing the big blow with a two run single in the frame to give UL-Lafayette a 5-0 lead.
Meyer allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings. The senior did strike out six Cajun hitters.
The Cajuns added a pair of runs in the seventh inning to increase their lead to 8-0.

The teams will conclude the series with a Saturday doubleheader scheduled for a noon first pitch.

Notes: Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux coached for seven years as an assistant at UL-Lafayette prior to coming to Tech in 2002 . UL-Lafayette presented with his framed jersey from his time with the Cajuns that included a appearance in the 2000 College World Series . Simoneaux's son, Thomas, threw out the first pitch at the game.


Louisiana-Lafayette 10, Louisiana Tech 0 (Feb 11, 2005 at Lafayette, La)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Louisiana Tech...... 000 000 000 - 0 1 1 (3-1)
Louisiana-Lafayette. 002 030 32X - 10 11 0 (1-0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Louisiana Tech - Meyer; Alverson(6); Moseley(7); Bascle(7); Allen(8).
Louisiana-Lafayette - Ardoin, K; Sanders, B(8).
Win-Ardoin, K(1-0) Loss-Meyer(0-1) T-2:39 A-3122
Game: LT4
--------


cajuns basketball on cox saturday night




Legends on Bertrand