When the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (34-20-1, 18-10-1 Sun Belt) started the second game of the series, it looked like a rerun of Thursday’s stomping on UL Monroe (12-42, 6-23 Sun Belt).
UL Monroe got right in the thick of things late, but Dylan Moore came in and shut down the Warhawks to give the Cajuns the 5-3 victory.
The Cajuns came out of the gates strong with a two-run blast to right centerfield from Steven Sensley. Kennon Fontenot kept the bats hot with an RBI single out to left field, which was followed up by an RBI double from Todd Lott to get the Cajuns out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning.
The Warhawks got on the board after Tyler Cox hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth. However, Fontenot struck again in the fifth with a solo shot from left field to make it 5-1.
Wyatt Marks had come on in relief of Colton Schmidt in the sixth and wound up getting UL Monroe back into the game after an RBI triple from Chad Bell. Cox made it a two run deficit later in the inning with an RBI single to centerfield.
Despite the best efforts of UL Monroe, Moore shut them down to get his 11th save of the season walking two and striking out three in two innings of work.
Colton Schmidt improved to 2-1 on the year allowing one run off seven hits, walked four and struck out one in five and a third innings of work.
The Cajuns will look to complete the series sweep with first pitch scheduled for 2 pm.
Extra Bases:
Moving On Up: After Friday’s victory, the Ragin Cajuns have clinched a top four seed in next week’s Sun Belt Tournament after Georgia Southern fell to Georgia State 7-6.
Bats Stay Hot: One of the things that the Cajuns needed to do headed into the final week of the regular season is get the bats going. For the second straight game, the Cajuns put up 13 hits. It may not be against a good opponent, but the hitting slump that the Cajuns were in needed to be fixed no matter what.
-Clint Domingue