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Cajuns drop series opener 9-2

Posted at 11:11 PM, Apr 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-13 00:11:51-04

LAFAYETTE (KATC) – Two early home runs off South Alabama bats sparked an offensive barrage that Louisiana was unable to overcome on Friday night as it fell to the Jaguars, 9-2, at Russo Park.

Those two dingers proved to be costly for the Ragin’ Cajuns (17-20, 6-7), which fell to 1-5 one the year when allowing two or more long balls.

Senior Orynn Veillon was responsible for both of Louisiana’s runs on Friday with an RBI single and a solo shot over the left-field wall to cap off a 2-for-4 evening at the plate. Fellow senior Handsome Monica added two hits of his own, one of which was a double, to round out a multi-hit effort.

Left-hander Austin Perrin (3-4) gave up six runs, five of which were earned, on five hits in the loss. He finished the game with four strikeouts. Michael Leaumont pitched 2.1 innings of relief, allowing two runs on two hits and fanning three.

A two-run shot in the top of the second from the Jaguars was quickly countered in the bottom of the same frame when Veillon’s single plated Daniel Lahare to cut the lead in half at 2-1. However, South Alabama (15-18, 5-8) pushed its lead out to 3-1 with a solo home run in the third.

The damage was done in the fifth when the Jaguars saw three runs score on a sacrifice bunt and an error to take a 6-1 advantage.

Veillon pulled a run back for Louisiana in the bottom half of the seventh inning when he launched his seventh home run of the year over the left-field fence, but a three-spot in the top of the ninth from South Alabama clinched the 9-2 victory for the Jaguars in Game One.

Game Two of the series will be played on Saturday, with first pitched slated for 1 p.m. The contest was originally set to be played at 4 p.m., but was moved due to impending weather.