The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns opened their weekend in Houston by taking on Vanderbilt in the Astros Foundation College Classic. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth, the Cajuns allowed seven straight runs by the Commodores to defeat Louisiana 7-4
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The first three innings were defensive with both teams only managing one hit each. But in the top of the fourth, Kyle DeBarge had a one-out walk before Duncan Pastore launched a double to the Crawford Boxes to put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. The next batter was Caleb Stelly, who grounded to the shortstop and was called out. However, after review, he was ruled safe and DeBarge went in to score on the play to give Louisiana the 1-0 lead.
Later in the inning, Clay Wargo hit a blooper to the pitcher, who fumbled the exchange to the catcher and allowed another Cajuns run to come in that gave Louisiana the 2-0 lead in the fourth. John Taylor delivered another RBI single with the help of the pitchers mound to score a third run for the Cajuns.
Vanderbilt responded in the bottom of the fifth with a RBI single RJ Austin and a RBI double from Camden Kozeal made it a 3-2 ballgame after five innings.
The Commodores tied the game in the sixth with an RBI triple from Calvin Hewett to make it a 3-3 game and control all of the momentum in the contest.
In the bottom of the seventh, Vanderbilt took a three-run lead on a two-out, full count three run homer from Alan Espinal to make it 6-3 in favor of the Commodores.
After a lead off double from Davis Diaz, a wild pitch and throwing error by the catcher allowed Diaz to come in and score to increase Vanderbilt’s lead to 7-3.
In the ninth, the Cajuns got a walk, single, and a walk to load the bases with one out for Josh Alexander, who legged out an infield single to score a run to make it 7-4 but that would end up being the final straw.
BIG NUMBER: 10
Vanderbilt’s offense came alive in the middle innings with 10 base hits for the contest, resulting in seven runs and the victory.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Alan Espinal
Espinal delivered for Vanderbilt when it mattered most, launching the game-winning three-run homer in the seventh inning.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will return to Minute Maid tomorrow to battle the defending national champions of LSU. First pitch is at 7:05 and can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.