The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team fell 3–2 to rival South Alabama in their Sun Belt Conference opener. With the loss, Louisiana’s record drops to 13–5 on the year and 0–1 in conference play. It also marks the third straight year the Cajuns have lost their conference opener.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
On a cool Friday evening, freshman right-hander Sawyer Pruitt earned his first Friday night start for Louisiana. Pruitt quickly sent the Jags down in order on three ground balls.
For the Jags, senior right-hander Mitchell Heer got the start. Heer worked a quick inning of his own, allowing just one hit off a Drew Markle bunt that caught the South Alabama infield sleeping.
In the top of the second, the Jags struck first with one of the more unconventional inside-the-park home runs you’ll ever see. Right fielder Mike Young hit a hard line drive to right-center that Maddox Mandino misread, and the ball rolled to the wall. When Jones slid into third, Rigoberto Hernandez sailed the cutoff throw into the Cajuns dugout, awarding Jones an extra base and making it an inside-the-park home run. The play was officially ruled a triple with a throwing error by Hernandez.
Louisiana had a prime chance to score in the third with two on and no outs, but failed to push a run across.
In the fourth, Louisiana cashed in. With runners at the corners, Mandino grounded into a fielder’s choice for an RBI to tie the game at 1.
In the top of the sixth, Young got the better of Pruitt again with an RBI single to make it 2-1 Jags.
Pruitt’s night came to an end in the top of the seventh after another solid performance. Final line: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 4 K, 92 P.
Senior Tyler Papenbrock came on in relief for Pruitt. With an inherited runner at second, Papenbrock walked the only batter he faced and was pulled for sophomore Parker Smith.
A quick strikeout from Smith got the Cajuns out of the jam, keeping it a 2-1 ballgame.
The Jags made their own pitching change in the bottom of the seventh after a double from Noah Lewis, putting an end to a great pitcher’s duel between Heer and Pruitt. Final line: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 K, 93 P.
With junior Jaxon Shineflew on in relief, Lewis stole home to tie the game at 2.
The tie didn’t last long. In the top of the eighth, Young struck again. A solo shot to left field put the Jags back on top 3-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, Blaze Rodriguez was picked off at first on a snap throw from Shineflew to seal the win for the Jags.
BIG NUMBER: 9
In a game that was so close in almost every statistic, the only real differentiation was strikeouts. Heer & Shineflew combined for 9 strikeouts against the Cajun bats.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mike Young
Even though both starting pitchers were excellent, Young stole the show. He went 3-4 on the night with 2 RBI and scored on the errant throw earlier, making him responsible all 3 of the Jags runs.
UP NEXT: The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will be back in action tomorrow, March 14th, at 2 P.M., for game 2 against South Alabama.