PRESS RELEASE
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana baseball team got a dominant start from senior Colten Schmidt as the Ragin’ Cajuns blanked Little Rock 1-0 in the series opener Friday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
Schmidt faced three over the minimum in the outing tossing 8.0 shutout innings to claim his fifth win of the season for the Ragin’ Cajuns (21-18, 9-7 SBC). The left-hander limited the Trojans (20-16, 9-6 SBC) to two hits with a walk and six strikeouts. The combined shutout is the second of the season for Schmidt who has gone at least eight innings in his last four starts.
Junior Nick Lee notched his third save of the year in the contest with a scoreless inning in the ninth.
Little Rock starter Chandler was the tough-luck loser falling to 5-3 on the season after holding the Cajuns to one run on three hits with a walk and five strikeouts in 8.0 innings.
Both the Ragin’ Cajuns and Trojans had three hits in the contest with Louisiana posting three doubles on the night.
LEADING THE CAJUNS
Senior Kennon Fontenot increased his on base streak to 19 games with his walk in the seventh inning. Hayden Cantrelle, Jonathan Windham and Kole McKinnon each recorded a double in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Louisiana went grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a two-out RBI double down the left field line by McKinnon.
Little Rock’s best threat came in the top of the sixth as the Trojans had two runners reach with no outs. Schmidt got some help from his defense as Chase Coker grounded into a double play before Matt Merino ended the inning on a ground ball to Cantrelle shortstop.
In the top of the ninth, Danny Mitchell Jr. reached on an infield single and then moved to second base on a Coker sac bunt. Lee went on to end the contest on a pair of groundouts by Merino and Kale Emshoff to make the final 1-0.
UP NEXT
Louisiana and Little Rock return to action tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Russo Park as the Ragin’ Cajuns look to claim their third straight series. Junior left-hander Hogan Harris will make the start for the Cajuns, while the Trojans will counter with junior right-hander Pablo Ortiz.