If Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun baseball squad gave a Most Valuable Player award at the two-thirds mark of the season, Micah Cockrell would probably get some votes.

But if the award were for "Most Versatile Player," there would be no doubt, especially after the Cajuns' last two games.

On Sunday, Cockrell pitched a complete-game six-hitter in only his second start of the year - and his second since his senior year in high school. That effort helped UL take a 7-3 win over Sun Belt Conference rival New Orleans and post a rare road series sweep.

Then, on Wednesday night, Cockrell provided the Cajuns' only runs with a second-inning two-run homer, enough to provide the Cajuns with a 2-1 victory over Northwestern State to give UL four straight wins and 10 wins in its last 11 outings.

"It's been a good week," Cockrell said.

The efforts haven't been lost on Cajun coach Tony Robichaux, who has penciled in Cockrell as the Sunday starter for the Cajuns' key Sun Belt series against Florida International. That three-game series begins tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Moore Field.

"The reason Micah's there is he's a bulldog," Robichaux said. "He's a battler, he's gritty. He's going to give you everything he's got, and he doesn't accept anything less than a full effort."

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com