The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team defeated the Georgia Southern Eagles 5-4 on Thursday afternoon inside Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama. The win keeps the Cajuns’ season alive in the Sun Belt Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Louisiana (27-30) started with lefty Chase Morgan on the mound. He was able to navigate a clean first inning, giving the Cajuns a chance to grab an early lead.
Georgia Southern (28-31) countered with Carter DeGondea. He did not have as efficient of an inning, as Luke Yuhasz delivered an RBI to get the Cajuns a 1-0 lead.
Morgan was excellent, and he kept the Eagles scoreless for four innings. In the fifth, Georgia Southern loaded the bases with no outs. Morgan got two outs, but then Juju Stevens delivered a bases-clearing double to make it 3-1 Eagles.
Louisiana would get one back in the sixth but it could have been more. After one scored, Owen Galt grounded into a fielder’s choice. However, Lee Amedee was called out for interference, ending the frame with a 3-2 score.
The Cajuns bullpen continued to hold, and the offense eventually broke through. Drew Markle drove home a run with an RBI single, then came around to score on a stolen base and an error. That gave Louisiana a 4-3 lead.
The lead was short-lived, as Stevens launched a solo shot, continuing his red-hot tournament. That tied the game at four.
Louisiana again manufactured a run to retake the lead. This time, Caleb Stelly reached and eventually got to third on two miscues. Then, he scored on Amedee’s sacrifice fly.
JR Tollett handled things down the stretch and closed it out in the ninth to keep the Cajuns alive.
BIG NUMBER: 4
If the Cajuns are to pull off a heroic tournament championship, they will have to win four more games. That will begin tomorrow.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Drew Markle
Markle had three hits including a huge RBI single. Additionally, his baserunning helped score another run.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will face the loser of Coastal Carolina and Marshall tomorrow at 6:30 PM.