MIAMI - They came up short in their effort to add the tournament title to a Sun Belt Conference regular-season crown, but Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun baseball team is assured of one thing that only one other league team has.

UL knows that more baseball awaits them next weekend.

The Cajuns, who were eliminated in Friday's late game in the Sun Belt meet, will see their name listed at one of the NCAA Tournament's 16 regional sites Monday when the 64-team bracket is shown to the world at 10:30 a.m.

Only South Alabama can claim that with the Jaguars assuring themselves of an invitational to the NCAA party with a 9-2 win Saturday afternoon in the tournament championship game. The tourney winner earns the league's automatic NCAA invitation.

The Cajuns will receive one of the at-large invitations, and the only question is where and with whom they'll be paired.

They'll gather at Buffalo Wild Wings for the nationally-televised announcement. Until then, rest is the order of the day.

"We just need some rest," said head coach Tony Robichaux. "We're not going to touch a bat or a ball until Monday afternoon. It's been a long season, a grind, and regardless of what happened this week they're the conference champions and they've played well over the long haul."

The 47-17 Cajuns finished the league tournament with a 7-5 loss to Middle Tennessee late Friday night, a game that didn't end until 1:15 a.m. local time.

"We're all kind of tired, but we'll bounce back," said senior centerfielder John Coker, who reached base five times in Friday's late loss. "We're going to work some of the kinks out and get ready for regional. A whole new season starts this week."

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com