Cajuns baseball beats #18 Coastal Carolina 12-6

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team surged to a 12-6 victory over No. 15 Coastal Carolina on Friday night in the series opener at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
 
Senior Colten Schmidt improved to 6-0 on the year for the Ragin’ Cajuns (27-20, 13-9 SBC) limiting the Chanticleers (31-15, 17-5 SBC) to one run on four hits with a walk and nine strikeouts in 8.0 innings.
 
CCU starter Zack Hopeck was handed his fourth loss of the season after giving up seven runs (six earned) on five hits and two walks in 4.1 innings of work.
 
The victory moves the Ragin’ Cajuns to 15-4 in the second half of the season as the squad remains a half game behind Little Rock for the SBC West Division lead.
 
LEADING THE CAJUNS
 
Junior Gavin Bourgeois led the Cajuns offensively going 2-for-3 with a triple, scored twice and drove in three runs. Daniel Lahare and Kennon Fontenotalso had a pair of hits in the game as Lahare scored three times with a double and a triple, while Fontenot tied a career-high four RBI and a home run.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Louisiana jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first when Bourgeois singled though the left side of the infield to plate Hayden Cantrelle and give the Cajuns a 1-0 edge. Later in the inning, Fontenot singled home Bourgeois to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 2-0 advantage. Hunter Kasuls scored the final run of the inning on a double steal attempt to make the score 3-0.
 
After Coastal Carolina cut the lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning on a Zach Biermann solo home run, Louisiana exploded for five runs on four hits and a CCU error in the fifth to take an 8-1 lead. A three-run homer to left field by Fontenot highlighted the scoring in the inning.
 
Kasuls extended the lead to 10-1 in the bottom half of the sixth on a two-run single through the left side of the infield with the bases loaded.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns tacked on their final two runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth on a Bourgeois triple and a Kasuls sac fly to centerfield.
 
Coastal Carolina scored five runs on four hits and an error in the top of the ninth to make the final 12-6.
 
UP NEXT
 
Louisiana looks to clinch its fifth straight series tomorrow at 6 p.m. in game two of the series against Coastal at Russo Park. The Cajuns will start junior left-hander Hogan Harris, while the Chanticleers will turn to junior right-hander Jason Bilous. Fans can listen to the game on News Talk 96.5-FM.
 
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