Tide engulfs Cajuns

[NewsCopy]

NEW ORLEANS - The question over whether the University of Louisiana can win an NCAA Baseball Regional without an effective Kevin Ardoin remains to be answered.

But the question over whether Ardoin could bounce back from four straight shaky outings was answered, and it was an emphatic no.

The Cajun senior righthander faced five Alabama batters, and by the time he left Friday's second game of the New Orleans Regional, the Crimson Tide had already scored four runs.

A single, a wild pitch, a hit batsman, another wild pitch and a two-run single got the UL starter in trouble in the first inning, and Evan Bush ended Ardoin's misery with a towering two-run homer.

From there, the Tide managed just enough the rest of the way to hold on for a 7-5 victory, one that dropped the Cajuns (47-18) into the losers' bracket and put UL one loss away from ending its season.

"We've said it before ... the season is a marathon, but it's a sprint from here on," said Cajun coach Tony Robichaux. "Whoever can get the big hit in the gap or take it out of the park at the right time wins in the regionals."

Second-seeded Alabama (39-21) did that, with Bush adding a solo homer in the seventh inning and Zac Welch getting a leadoff shot in the fifth. Those were necessary since the Cajuns rallied for three runs in the sixth inning off Tide starter Wade LeBlanc to cut the difference to 6-5.

"The game seemed like it lasted two days," said Alabama coach Jim Wells. "We're just glad to have survived. We swung it better than we have, and then we held on."

That hold-on put the Tide into today's 6:30 p.m. winners' bracket finale against Tulane, a 17-7 winner over Southern in Friday's opening game. The Cajuns will take on the Jaguars in today's 2:30 p.m. elimination game, and now face the daunting task of winning four straight games in order to advance out of regional play.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Cajunologist]

Whats up with our bats!! It was so disappointing to see batters like Hawke watch strike 3 roll right by them in a full count situation. Speaking of Hawke, he didn't look like he wanted to hit at all. I remember him getting a little excited about taking a walk during the sixth or seventh inning. The way he reacted, i remember thinking how could you be so excited about getting a walk. It was what he wanted the instant he stepped in the batters box, he wasn't looking to hit the dang ball at all. It's just really disappointing to watch some of the seniors not take advantage of the situation when they worked soo hard all season to get here and just lay down at this time of the year. It was depressing showing last night and still we were in it the whole game even after taking our ace in the first inning. We made Alabama look good, I was not impressed at all by them.

We can still win it but we are not playing like we can.

[JMV JustMyView]

Whats up with our bats!! It was so disappointing to see batters like Hawke watch strike 3 roll right by them in a full count situation. Speaking of Hawke, he didn't look like he wanted to hit at all. I remember him getting a little excited about taking a walk during the sixth or seventh inning. The way he reacted, i remember thinking how could you be so excited about getting a walk. It was what he wanted the instant he stepped in the batters box, he wasn't looking to hit the dang ball at all. It's just really disappointing to watch some of the seniors not take advantage of the situation when they worked soo hard all season to get here and just lay down at this time of the year. It was depressing showing last night and still we were in it the whole game even after taking our ace in the first inning. We made Alabama look good, I was not impressed at all by them.

We can still win it but we are not playing like we can.

I agree with you, your point is well stated.