Box Score LAFAYETTE, La. ? Louisiana-Lafayette's Alex Fuselier opened Friday night's series opener with six shutout innings to lead the Ragin' Cajuns (8-9-1, 2-4) to an eventual 11-1 win over UALR (7-11, 3-4) at Tigue Moore Field.
Fuselier blanked the Trojans for the first six innings and allowed just four hits and one run over 7.0 innings to improve to 2-0 on the year. UALR's Jake Sullivan (3-2) dropped his second-straight decision after allowing eight runs and 11 hits over 6.1 innings of work.
ULL banged out 14 hits on the day, led by a 3-for-5 showing by outfielder Les Smith, who was one of four players to drive in two runs in the win. The Ragin' Cajuns led 1-0 after three innings but plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-0 lead. Smith belted a two-run homer in the fifth (his third of the year) to make it a 6-0 contest.
Trailing 7-0, the Trojans finally got on the board in the top of the seventh when Jack Larner followed up a pair of walks with a two-out, pinch hit single to plate Josh Marazzito. ULL's Thad Giffen hit a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh (his fourth of the year), and the Ragin' Cajuns pushed across three more in the eighth to bring the game to its 11-1 finale.
UALR managed just five hits in the game, with Matt Apfel pacing the squad with a 2-for-3 day at the plate.
The two teams return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the second game of the Sun Belt Conference series.
