The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns beat UC San Diego 4-3 on Sunday to claim the series win. With the win, Louisiana moves to 9-3 on the year and finishes off a five-game week with 4 wins.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
JR Tollett got the nod to start the game on the bump for the Cajuns. His defense backed him up after he plunked Gabe Camacho, turning two on a ground ball off the bat of Trevian Martinez to get out of the inning.
On the mound for the Tritons, Austin Bowker made his third start of the year. The Cajun bats quickly went to work on Bowker. Donovan LaSalle led off with a double, and then Lee Amedee and Colt Brown each picked up an RBI to give the Cajuns a 2-0 lead heading into the second.
Things wouldn’t get easier for Bowker in the third. Maddox Mandino led off with a single, then Griffin Hebert was issued a walk. With Mandino on second, Bowker tried to pick him off but overthrew it into center field. Now with runners on third and second, Bowker again tried to pick off Mandino — this time at third — but no one was covering the bag. Mandino quickly raced home to make it 3-0 Cajuns heading into the fourth.
Bowker’s day would come to an end in the fourth after hitting Rigoberto Hernandez. His final line was: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB.
Junior right-hander Nathan Huy came on in relief for Bowker and got out of the fourth unscathed. Huy wouldn’t stay in long, as the Tritons turned to right-hander Nathan Ries in the fifth with the score still 3-0.
The Tritons finally broke through in the sixth. Four singles off Tollett drove in two runs to cut the Cajuns’ lead to one heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Louisiana answered in the bottom half of the sixth when LaSalle scored Mandino from third on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-2.
Freshman right-hander Sawyer Pruitt came on in relief of Tollett to start the seventh. Tollett finished with a final line of: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 K, 1 BB.
After a strikeout to start the seventh, Pruitt gave up three straight singles to load the bases. He worked out of the jam by striking out Camacho and getting Martinez to pop up, retiring the side and keeping the Cajuns’ lead at two.
Garret Carter started the eighth for Louisiana. After a leadoff single and a walk, UL turned to right-hander Cody Brasch.
The Tritons plated one off Brasch on a sacrifice fly from Nick Costello to make it a 4-3 game heading into the bottom of the eighth.
Brasch returned in the ninth to close things out for the Cajuns, securing the 4-3 win and earning his second save of the year.
BIG NUMBER: 9
The Cajuns’ pitching staff combined for 9 strikeouts on Sunday, keeping the Triton hitters from getting comfortable all day long.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Maddox Mandino
Mandino had a very productive day all around, going two for three at the plate and scoring two of the Cajuns’ four runs today.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will wrap up its nine-game home stand with in-state rival #2 LSU on Wednesday, March 4th. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM, and the action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.