The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns returned to College Station for the second time in three seasons as they opened their College Station Regional slate with the Longhorns of Texas.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Both starting pitchers got through the first inning easily with 22 pitches thrown in the first frame of the day.
Louisiana got on the board in the bottom of the 2nd with a solo home run from Lee Amedee that got out of the park at 107 mph to give the Cajuns a 1-0 lead.
In the next inning, Trey LaFleur got a hold of a ball at 111 mph and sent it beyond the right field bleachers for a home run and the 2-0 Cajuns lead.
In the fourth, Texas came alive with a double from Kimble Scheussler followed by a single from Porter Brown. Then, Rylan Galvan doubled in the first run for the Longhorns before a single from Will Gasparino made way for a bases-loaded two-run single from Dee Kennedy to put Texas ahead 3-2.
Singles from Belyeu and Schuessler followed by back-to-back walks scored another run for the Longhorns to make it 4-2. With the bases loaded and one out, an error from SBC Player of the Year Kyle DeBarge sent another run in to extend the lead to 5-2. Jared Thomas got an RBI single before Jalin Flores launched a grand slam to left field to make it a 10-2 lead for Texas.
In the bottom of the fifth, singles from Jose Torres and Bryan Broussard before a walk to LaFleur loaded the bases. Then Conor Higgs was hit by a pitch to score a run and make it 10-3 followed by a sacrifice from DeBarge to score a second run.
Texas added two more in the sixth with a two-run single from Gasparino to make it 12-4 as time was running out for the Cajuns.
In the seventh, LaFleur got another RBI with a single that brought in Torres to add another run at 12-5.
Texas controlled Louisiana in the end, giving up just one hit in the eighth and ninth to pick up the 12-5 win.
BIG NUMBER: 12
The Texas Longhorns did all of their damage in the middle innings, scoring 3 in the 4th, 7 in the 5th, and 2 more in the 6th to move to the winner’s bracket.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jalin Flores
The Texas shortstop went 2-4 on the night with a grand slam in the fifth inning. He also drew a pair of walks.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will play in the loser’s bracket against Grambling on Saturday with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m.