Cajuns Baseball Falls To Little Rock In Extra Innings

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team fell to Little Rock 9-7 in 11 innings on Sunday in the series finale at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
 
With the loss, the Ragin’ Cajuns (22-19, 10-8 SBC) drop to 3-3 on the year in extra-inning games. The Trojans (21-17, 10-7 SBC) outhit the Cajuns 16-13 in the contest.
 
Reliever Nick Lee took the loss for Louisiana after giving up five runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings of work. Lee struck out three with no walks in the outing.
 
Justin Garcia claimed the win for Little Rock going 5.0 innings in relief with three runs (two earned) on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
 
LEADING THE CAJUNS
 
Junior Gavin Bourgeois led the Cajuns offensively going 4-for-6 with an RBI and scored two runs. Junior Daniel Lahare also had a strong showing going 3-for-6 with a triple, one RBI and 2 runs.
 
Senior Kennon Fontenot extended his on-base streak to 21 games going 1-for-5 with two RBI.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Louisiana struck first in the bottom of the first inning on a Hunter Kasuls RBI single to centerfield to take a 1-0 lead. In the next at bat, Fontenot brought home Hayden Cantrelle on a ball hit to second base to extend the Ragin’ Cajuns advantage to 2-0.
 
Lahare added to the lead in the bottom of the second with a two-out RBI single back up the middle to make the score 3-0.
 
Little Rock answered in the top of the third plating a pair of runs on a Chase Coker single and a Marcus Ragan double to cut the lead to 3-2.
 
The Trojans pulled even in the top of the fourth on an RBI single up the middle by Troy Alexander.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth on Jonathan Windham‘s first career home run as he sent the 0-1 pitch from reliever Donavin Buck over the fence to put Louisiana up 4-3.
 
The lead didn’t last long though as Coker knotted the game at 4-all with an opposite field home run to left field in the top of the seventh.
 
Louisiana pulled back in front 5-4 in the bottom half of the seventh when Lahare scored on a Garcia passed ball. Fontenot added to the advantage with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 6-4 edge.
 
Little Rock would tie the game for the third time in the top of the ninth scoring a pair of runs on an RBI groundout to third base by Ragan and an RBI double to left center by Danny Mitchell Jr. to make the score 6-all.
 
In the top of the 11th inning, Ragan gave the Trojans their first lead of the series with an RBI single to centerfield. Little Rock added two insurance runs later in the inning on a Mitchell single and a Matt Merino RBI ground out to take a 9-6 lead.
 
The Cajuns pulled within two runs at 9-7 in the bottom half of the 11th on an RBI infield single by Bourgeois, but that’s as close as they would get as Kasuls lined out to first base to end the contest.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns open a five-game week with a road contest at Louisiana Tech on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Ruston, La. Following the matchup with the Bulldogs, the Cajuns host New Orleans at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Russo Park before heading to Georgia State for a three-game series next weekend.
 
For the latest updates on Ragin’ Cajuns baseball, follow Ragin’ Cajuns baseball on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.