Logos from NCAA and sportslogos.net
Louisiana opened their 2023 NCAA Tournament run in Coral Gables, Florida as the Ragin Cajuns battled with the Texas Longhorns. A home run from Mitchell Daly, a two-run double from Dylan Campbell, and eight punchouts from Lucas Gordon loomed large for Texas as the Longhorms took down Louisiana with a final score of 4-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The opening game of the Coral Gables Regional, delayed over an hour by rain, was a defensive slugfest through the first five innings with both pitchers combining for 11 strikeouts to open the game.
John Taylor sent a long fly ball to the center field wall in the fourth that would’ve given the Cajuns a three-run lead, but Eric Kennedy robbed him at the wall to end the inning.
Scoring finally came in the sixth, with a two-out double to left center from Heath Hood to put a runner in scoring position before Connor Higgs hit a single to left field to score Hood and put Louisiana on the board 1-0.
Texas didn’t take long to respond though as the ninth hitter in the order Mitchell Daly led off the inning with a fastball launched to left field for a no-doubt home run to tie the game at 1-1. Later in the inning, Porter Brown gave Texas the lead on a two-out RBI single to right that scored Jared Thomas and made it 2-1 Longhorns.
In the bottom of the seventh, Louisiana walked a pair of Longhorns and gave up a single to load the bases for Dylan Campbell, who set the Big 12 record earlier in the contest with a 36-game hit streak. He delivered in this moment as well with a two-run double to make it 4-1 Texas.
In the eighth, Louisiana cut into the lead with a two-out solo home run for Carson Roccaforte to make it a 4-2 contest. After a Heath Hood single following the homer, Connor Higgs grounded out to the shortstop to end the inning.
Zane Morehouse came on in the eighth and was able to shut the door on Louisiana and pick up a 4-2 win in Game 1 of the Coral Gables Regional.
BIG NUMBER: .417
Texas was able to hit .417 with runners on base in the opening game, which led to some key runs being scored in the later innings.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Lucas Gordon
Gordon pitched seven complete innings, only allowing one run on five hits while striking out eight to lead Texas to a key Game 1 win.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will head to the losers’ bracket and battle the loser of Miami/Maine Saturday.