CONWAY, S.C. (Press Release) – Louisiana Baseball’s Sun Belt Tournament run came to an end on Thursday morning after its comeback attempt in the final two innings came up just short in a 10-7 defeat to Troy at Springs Brooks Stadium.
Trailing 10-3 after seven, the Ragin’ Cajuns were able to muster up four runs in their final two chances at the plate but could not overcome the deficit that was created throughout the middle portion of the contest.
The Ragin’ Cajuns finished the 2019 campaign with a 28-31 overall record and a 15-15 record in Sun Belt play.
Senior Handsome Monica led the team with a 2-for-3 outing that included an RBI early in the ballgame, while four other Ragin’ Cajuns produced a hit. Todd Lott was responsible for one of those hits and finished the day with three RBI and a run scored.
Logan Savoy (2-3) pitched well in his start on Thursday, sitting down the first 10 batters that he faced, but the four runs he allowed on seven hits ultimately saw him take the loss.
Louisiana got things going in the third inning when Hunter Kasuls singled home the game’s opening run. That lead was extended to 3-0 by innings end after Lott lifted a sacrifice fly to center which scored Hayden Cantrelle and Monica singled to center to score Kasuls.
After cutting the lead to 3-2 with runs in the fourth and fifth, Troy broke things open in the sixth inning when it put up five runs, highlighted by a two-run homer by Dalton Sinquefield. That lead was extended in the next frame when three more runs came around to score to push the Trojans’ advantage to 10-3.
As they have done all year, the Ragin’ Cajuns never quit and cut the deficit to 10-5 in the eighth when Lott sent his eighth homer of the year sailing over the wall in right field.
Two more runs scored in the ninth when O’Neal Lochridge blasted a double to right center that allowed Kole McKinnon to touch home plate before scoring himself on a fielding error by the Trojans’ second baseman. However, the damage had already been done as Troy held off Louisiana in the end to secure a 10-7 victory.