The Comeback Kids: Cajuns Use Ninth-inning Rally To Top Demons 6-5

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. - Jefferies Tatford's RBI single to center field in the bottom of ninth inning provided the No. 17-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns with their second come-from-behind victory in three games after a 6-5 win over Northwestern State here Tuesday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

Louisiana-Lafayette (23-5, 2-1 Sun Belt) won its fifth game in seven tries over a Southland Conference opponent and it's the Cajuns' second win over Northwestern State (21-9, 6-0 Southland) this season. Earlier in the year, the Cajuns won 4-0 over the Demons on Feb. 20 in Lafayette.

Micah Cockrell (1-1) earned his first win of the season, going 1 2/3 innings of relief. Cockrell allowed one hit, while striking out two batters.

Northwestern State's Blake Jones (3-2) received the loss after going 2 2/3 innings. Jones allowed both runs in the ninth inning on five hits with two strikeouts.

Louisiana starting pitcher C.J. Blue received his second straight no-decision - both against Southland Conference schools - after going 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts.

Louisiana-Lafayette plated the first run of the game. In the first inning, following a John Coker lead-off walk, Josh Landry singled to center field. Coker was later picked off at second base. John McCarthy's ground out advanced Landry to second. Dallas Morris followed with an infield single, which extended his hitting streak to 19 games.

Jonathan Lucroy's RBI infield single plated Landry to give the Cajuns a 1-0 lead. Morris advanced to third on a fielding error by Northwestern State short stop Scott Pittinger. Phillip Hawke struck out looking to end the inning.

Louisiana-Lafayette's one-run lead didn't last very long, as the Demons scored four runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-1 advantage.

Blake Jones homered to right field to tie the game at one apiece. Miles Durham followed with a triple to right-center field. Bobby Barbier then plated Durham to give the Demons a 2-1 lead. After Hunter Thoms doubled to right center, Brandt Sanders replaced C.J. Blue on the mound.

Andre Vige advanced Thoms to third on a fly out. Eric Epperson's two-run home run to right field gave the Demons a three-run advantage, 4-1. Pittinger singled to center field, but was caught stealing to end the fourth inning.

Sanders lasted 1 2/3 innings for the Cajuns, allowing one run on two hits.

In the sixth inning, senior Ian Pecoraro made just his second appearance of the season. Pecoraro allowed one run on three hits, while striking out two batters in 2 1/3 innings.

Louisiana tied the game at 4-4 with a three-run sixth inning. McCarthy doubled past the left fielder to lead off the inning. Morris followed with another single to left field. Jonathan Lucroy's sacrifice fly plated McCarthy, cutting the Demons' lead to 4-2. Hawke doubled off the top of the right field wall - inches from becoming a home run - to advance Morris to third with one out. After Justin Merendino popped up to second for the Cajuns' second out, Justin Morgan, the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, singled to right-center field, plating Hawke and Morris to knot the score at four apiece.

The Cajuns put together its second come-from-behind victory in three games in the bottom of the ninth inning. Coker had an infield single to lead off the ninth inning. After Landry's sacrifice bunt advanced Coker to second, McCarthy singled to left field to put runners on the corners with one out. Morris' sacrifice fly plated Coker to tie the game at 5-5. McCarthy later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Lucroy then drew a two-out walk. Tatford followed with his game-winning single to center field that scored a sliding McCarthy.

Lucroy and Morgan each led the Cajuns with two RBI. Morris went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Hawke, Coker, McCarthy and Morris each had two hits.

Blake Jones and Epperson paced the Demons offensively. Jones went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while Epperson went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns will resume Sun Belt Conference play this weekend when they travel to Jonesboro, Ark., to face Arkansas State in a pivotal three-game series.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

Jefferies Tatford delivers clutch single in bottom of ninth.

One of Tony Robichaux's favorite quotes got another replay Tuesday night.

"Good teams find ways to win games," Robichaux said after his University of Louisiana baseball team rallied for a 6-5 win over Northwestern State. "Great teams refuse to lose."

The Ragin' Cajuns have established themselves as the former, with national rankings in two different polls this week. If they continue to get clutch performances, the latter may not be far off.

It was Jefferies Tatford's turn to play hero Tuesday night, with the ex-St. Thomas More standout delivering a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning to score John McCarthy from second base and give the Cajuns (23-5) yet another comeback win.

UL, ranked 15th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll and 17th in the Collegiate Baseball magazine poll, trailed by as much as 4-1 before rallying to tie the game in the sixth.

Then, after the Demons (21-9) scored a go-ahead run in the eighth, the Cajuns scored twice in the ninth to complete a 6-2 homestand and take their first win of the season when entering the ninth inning behind.

"We knew we might be a little sluggish after the weekend series," Robichaux said, "but we kept ourselves in the game and gave ourselves a chance to win. We had to cover up for some mistakes we made earlier in the game, but this lets us feel better about ourselves going to Arkansas State."

The Cajuns, who took two of three from South Alabama in a Sun Belt Conference-opening series and play a league series at ASU this weekend, got three hits, two sacrifices and a walk in the ninth off Demon closer Blake Jones (3-2).

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com