LAFAYETTE - Louisiana Baseball split its doubleheader with Texas State, taking game one 9-0 and falling in game two 6-2 at M.L. ‘Tigue’ Moore Field at Russo Park on Saturday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (23-20, 9-9 SBC) were led by Drake Osborn at the plate, who went 4-for-9 on the day. Osborn is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak, six of which have been multi-hit games, and is also 15-for-34 (.441) over that span.
Brennan Breaux had a solid first game for the Ragin’ Cajuns, going 2-for-5 with three RBI. Breaux added a hit in the second game as well and increased his batting average to .283 on the year.
Bobby Lada flashed his power in both games, hitting his third and fourth home runs of the season, respectively.
Making his second and third appearances at third base, Tyler Robertson made solid defensive plays and went 3-for-6 on the day.
Connor Cooke twirled another gem in game one, pitching seven shutout innings and earning the win. In his last four starts, Cooke has fanned 36 batters in 28.1 innings pitched and has only allowed 11 hits with four earned runs over that span.
Texas State’s (19-26, 9-9 SBC) starting pitcher, Zeke Wood (2-4), tossed seven pitches to put the Ragin’ Cajuns down in order in the first inning of game one.
In the second inning, Robertson made a beautiful diving play, charging in from third base and preventing Texas State from putting down a bunt.
Cooke, who only gave up one hit in the first four innings, had five punch outs through the first four frames, four of them looking.
Carson Roccaforte gave Louisiana its first run of the game on an RBI ground out in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Lada then smashed his third home run of the season, giving the Ragin’ Cajuns the 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the fifth.
Cooke ended up pitching seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and retiring nine on strikes to improve his record to 5-2 on the year.
Between the seventh and eighth inning, Louisiana plated seven runs, highlighted by a pair of RBI hits from Breaux.
Osborn, CJ Willis, Connor Kimple and Jonathan Brandon all came up with RBI knocks in the seventh and eighth inning.
Brandon Talley twirled the last two innings for Louisiana, allowing one hit and striking out three batters en route to the 9-0 game one win.
Texas State got the first run in game two on Saturday, scoring on a two-out double to right field from Dalton Shuffield.
Lada blasted a 400-foot bomb to left field, tying the game at 1-1 in the second inning, his second homer of the doubleheader.
Following Lada’s home run, Texas State scored two runs off Austin Perrin (1-2) in the fourth inning, putting the Bobcats ahead 3-1. All of the runs came with two outs in the inning.
The Bobcats did not stop there as they scored another two runs in the sixth off a sac fly and RBI single, extending their lead to 5-1.
Robertson singled to left field in the sixth, bringing home Willis and pulling Louisiana within 5-2.
Texas State took the run back, however, in the top of the seventh frame when Will Hollis hit a home run, giving Texas State a 6-2 lead.
Jacob Schultz was great in relief, pitching the last two innings and punching out two batters on strikes. Schultz has recently touched 96 on the radar gun and has not given up an earned run in his last four outings.
Tristan Stivors pitched the last two innings for Texas State, sealing the 6-2 win for the Bobcats.
Louisiana does not have a midweek game this week and will get ready for a three-game series with North Alabama starting on Friday, May 7.
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