Box Score LAFAYETTE, La.
- Louisiana-Lafayette (24-19, 11-8
SBC) scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 3-all tie
and hand the UALR baseball team (16-24, 6-13 SBC) a 6-3 loss on Friday night at
M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field. The Trojans took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second
inning and eventually went up 3-1 in the top of the third, but the Rajin'
Cajuns chipped away at the UALR lead, eventually tying things up at three in
the seventh before taking their first lead of the contest with a three-run
eighth.
Senior Travis Henke
(1-3) got the start for
the Trojans and pitched well in a no decision, giving up just two runs on five
hits in 6.1 innings of work. The Jefferson
City, Mo., native
struck out three and walked two before leaving in the top of the seventh with a
3-1 lead.
Sophomore Myles Parma
led a Trojan offense that
produced nine hits on the evening. Parma
went 3-for-4 and scored a run while improving his batting average to a stellar
.404 on the season. Senior Jake Rowell
and junior Cameron Bentley
also had
multi-hit nights, chipping in with two-hits apiece. Rowell went 2-for-4 and
scored a run while Bentley went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
The
Cajun's big eighth inning came on five hits, all singles, with three of them
coming before the first out was recorded. The frame started with a pair of
singles to centerfield by shortstop Greg Fontenot and outfielder Mike Petello
to put runners at first and second with no outs. Next, an RBI single by second
baseman Jordan Poirrier plated the first ULL run of the inning, while two more
RBI singles later in the frame off the bats of catcher Michael Strentz and
outfielder Matt Goulas accounted for the final two runs of the inning.
The
Trojans were unable to answer in the ninth, as reliever Joey Satriano retired
the UALR batters in order in their final set of at-bats.
Satriano
picked up the win for ULL, improving to 4-2 on the season after allowing no
runs on just one hit in 3.0 innings of work. Senior Garret Graziano
, who came on in relief of Henke in the top of the
seventh, was saddled with the loss for UALR, dropping his record to 3-7 on the
year.
After both
teams went quietly in their first sets of at-bats, the Trojans plated a pair of
runs in the top of the second to give themselves an early 2-0 lead. After
giving up singles to Rowell and Parma,
Cajun starter Taylor Hubbell issued a two-out walk to senior Casey McCollum
to load the bases. The
next batter, Bentley, then turned the first pitch he saw into a two-RBI single,
scoring Rowell and Parma to put UALR on top 2-0.
ULL would
answer with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame. Designated hitter
Lance Marvel led off the inning with a single through the left side before
eventually scoring on an RBI single by Goulas and making it a 2-1 ballgame.
The
Trojans tacked on their third run of the game in the top of the third inning,
as junior Nick Rountree
brought home
junior Greg Garcia
with an RBI
single to centerfield to push the Trojan lead back to two at 3-1. Garcia led
off the inning with a double down the left field line to set up Rountree's
run-scoring base knock.
Henke
found himself in a bit of trouble in the bottom half of the third, as the Trojan
hurler hit first baseman Trask Switzenbeg to lead off the inning and
surrendered a one-out single to Fontenot to give the Cajuns runners at first
and third with just one out. Henke escaped the jam, however, inducing an
inning-ending double play ball off the bat of Potello to get out of the inning
unscathed.
ULL began
to chip away at the UALR lead in the bottom of the fifth inning before
eventually tying things up in the seventh. Goulas led off the fifth with a
single, and then advanced all the way to third on a stolen base and a groundout
to Jason Houston
at second. A wild
pitch by Henke would bring home the leftfielder and make the score 3-2. In the
seventh, Graziano came on in relief of Henke with no runners on and one out on
the board. After walking the first batter he faced, the Oklahoma City, Okla.,
native gave up an RBI single down the right field line to Jordan Bourque that
tied the game at 3-all.
The Cajun
offense produced 11 hits on the night. Goulas led the way with a 3-for-3 effort
to go along with two runs and two RBI.
The
Trojans and the Cajuns will resume their series on Saturday, with game two
scheduled for a 3 p.m. start time. Senior Ryan
Juris
(1-2) will get the start for UALR and will go up against Jordan
Nicholson (3-2) for ULL. Saturday's contest will be this week's featured
matchup on the Sun Belt Network and will be televised by CSS.
