Tuesday night’s matchup between the LSU Tigers (16-10) and the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (11-13) wasn’t the masterpiece that last year’s Wally Pontiff Classic, but it wasn’t without its drama as the Cajuns walked out of Metairie with a 3-1 win over the 19th ranked Tigers.
How It Happened
The Cajuns struck early in the first with Kennon Fontenot starting things off with an RBI double down the left field line in the top of the first. Gavin Bourgeois made it 2-0 later in the inning when he scored off of a wild pitch that advanced Fontenot and Hayden Cantrelle into scoring position. However, AJ Labas was able to keep the game at 2-0 after the first.
Fontenot increased Louisiana’s lead to 3-0 when he was able to get Bourgeois across in the top of the third off of a fielder’s choice.
LSU tried to get back into it in the bottom of the fourth when they were able to capitalize on an error by Hogan Harris on a throw to first off of a dribbler by Jake Slaughter, allowing Nick Coomes to score.
Things got dicey for the Cajuns in the eighth when Austin Perrin put runners on first and second after walking Daniel Cabrera. However, the defense bailed the pitching staff out of the jam when Jake Slaughter grounded into a double play to end the eighth inning still down 3-1.
The stakes were raised in the bottom of the ninth after a Beau Jordan groundout put two runners in scoring position to potentialy tie the ballgame at three runs with Antoine Duplantis at the plate. However, the junior wound up hitting one to Logan Stoelke to end the ballgame.
Harris improved to 1-1 on the season allowing one run off five hits in four innings of work. Stoelke got his sixth save of the season allowing one hit and hitting one batter in the ninth.
Looking over at LSU, AJ Labas dropped to 2-1, allowing three runs off of five hits, walking one, and striking out six in five and a third innings of work.
Big Number: 11
The Tigers were able to get hits on Tuesday night, but the key to the Cajuns getting the win was because of the 11 runners that were stranded by LSU.
Player of the Game: Kennon Fontenot
Fontenot has gotten better as the season progresses and tonight was no different, accounting for two of the three runs that came across. When you can manufacture runs like the Cajuns like to do, it’s a big positive when you’re up against quality opponents like LSU.
Next Up: Cajuns Travel to Jonesboro; LSU Hosts Mississippi State
Louisiana: Thursday @ 6:30 pm
LSU: Thursday @ 7 pm
-Clint Domingue