LAFAYETTE (Press Release) – Louisiana Baseball puts its three-game winning streak on the line this weekend when it welcomes the Sun Belt’s hottest team in Arkansas State to Russo Park for a critical three-game series.
The matchup has been dominated by the Ragin’ Cajuns (15-16, 4-5) over the last few seasons, boasting a 12-5 record since the historic 2014 campaign and an 8-2 record in the last 10 meetings.
In its most recent outings, Louisiana clinched a season sweep over in-state foe Southeastern Louisiana, taking the first game on Tuesday, 8-2, and the second game on Wednesday, 9-8. The bats were hot in both games as the Ragin’ Cajuns combined for 17 runs and 20 hits, five of which were for extra bases.
Junior Todd Lott continues to guide the offense on the back of his 13-game hitting streak, leading the way with a .345 (30-for-87) batting average. During the aforementioned hitting streak, which began on March 15 at Little Rock, he is hitting .457 (21-for-46) with two doubles, two homers and 10 RBI.
Lott is joined by Hayden Cantrelle and Hunter Kasuls, who are hitting .327 (37-for-113) and .306 (33-for-108), respectively. Cantrelle leads the team with his 37 hits and has swiped a team-best 19 bags, the 16th-most in the NCAA. Kasuls has been a constant on second base and has produced 33 hits on the year, tied for second on the team with Brennan Breaux.
Louisiana will go with a familiar rotation this weekend with Jacob Schultz (0-0, 2.27 ERA) starting on Friday, Austin Perrin (2-3, 5.14 ERA) starting on Saturday and Jack Burk (0-0, 3.52 ERA) getting the nod on Sunday.
Arkansas State (19-11, 7-3) enters the weekend series at the top of the Sun Belt standings, but lost its two midweek games against Southern Illinois (4-3) and Memphis (7-4). However, the Red Wolves were impressive in their latest Sun Belt series, taking 2-of-3 games on the road at 19th-ranked Coastal Carolina.
Sky-Lar Culver has started all 30 games for the Red Wolves and is hitting at a .342 (38-for-11) clip. On the year, he has produced 10 doubles, four home runs and leads the team with 29 RBI.
Arkansas State has yet to announced their starting rotation.
Louisiana has been in firm control of the all-time series, boasting an 83-41 record. Under head coach Tony Robichaux, the team is 50-28 against the Red Wolves, including a 31-17 mark in Lafayette.
No decision has been made regarding the weekend schedule despite the projected threat of severe weather. Updates to the schedule will be made available on RaginCajuns.com and on the team’s social media channels.
