MONROE, La. – Another big weekend on the diamond lies ahead for the Louisiana Baseball team, which hits the road for the final time this season when it makes the short trek to Monroe for a showdown with in-state rival ULM. Game times are set for 6 p.m., on Thursday, 6 p.m., on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Louisiana (25-28, 13-14) has been hot as of late, winning five of its last six Sun Belt contests and coming off an important three-game sweep of Georgia State. During that stretch, the team is hitting at a .347 clip (76-for-219) with 21 extra-base hits and 51 RBI.
In the team’s sweep of Georgia State, Louisiana was able to score 29 runs on 36 hits while allowing just 11 runs on 15 hits. Senior Handsome Monica was the offensive catalyst against the Panthers, going 6-for-11 at the plate with six RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage. One of his hits was a mammoth three-run shot on Sunday, his 12th home run of the season.
Four different Ragin’ Cajuns are now hitting above .300 heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Junior Todd Lottleads that group with an impressive .343 average (60-for-175) and is slugging at a .526 clip. Senior Orynn Veillon has found his groove as of late, riding a team-leading 17-game hitting streak to boost his average to .302.
With the early week and the Sun Belt Tournament looming, all three Louisiana pitchers are currently listed as TBA.
ULM (23-27, 11-15) will be playing for a chance to make the postseason this weekend and enters the three-game set having lost two of three games on the road at Troy in its last weekend series. The Warhawks were supposed to play a midweek game against Northwestern State on Tuesday, May 14, but the contest was cancelled due to wet field conditions.
Andrew Beesley paces four Warhawks hitting over .300 this year, boasting a .346 average (66-for-191). The junior is also responsible for 32 runs scored, 31 RBI and has stolen 14 bags in 16 attempts.
The Warhawks will start lefty Trey Jeans (4.34 ERA, 3-8) on Thursday night, right-hander Ty Barnes (5.15 ERA, 4-3) on Friday night and righty Kayleb Sanderson (5.80 ERA, 3-3) on Saturday afternoon.
Louisiana has dominated the series over the last six seasons, winning the last 25 meetings between the two clubs. Overall, the Ragin’ Cajuns are 91-52 all-time against the Warhawks and 51-18 under Tony Robichaux.
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