CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Jake Hammond scattered four hits and struck out five in seven solid innings of work and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns racked up 13 hits off four pitchers to claim an 8-4 Sun Belt Conference win over Marshall on Thursday at GoMart Ballpark.
Will Veillon belted a solo home run and drove in three runs while five players had two hits each as Louisiana (21-9, 7-3 Sun Belt) led 3-1 after seven innings before using a five-run eighth to pull away from Marshall (13-14, 4-6 Sun Belt) in the first meeting between the schools.
Max Marusak and Ben Robichaux each drove in a pair of runs in the eighth for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who added seven infield hits in the game.
Louisiana took a 2-0 lead in the first inning with John Taylor reaching on a bases-loaded single off Marshall starter Patrick Copen (2-3) before Veillon was hit by a pitch.
Veillon sent a 1-and-2 fastball from Copen over the left-field wall in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead before Marshall closed the gap in the sixth on Kyle Schaefer’s sacrifice fly which scored Kebler Peralta.
Hammond (3-2), who posted his third quality start of the season, retired the first 11 batters he faced before Owen Ayers’ double in the fourth. The right-hander allowed a bunt single by Peralta in the sixth and back-to-back singles in the seventh before closing out the night when he got Christian Lucio to line into an inning-ending, double play.
Veillon opened the scoring in the eighth for the Ragin’ Cajuns with an RBI single before Marusak laced a two-run single through the left side with Robichaux reached on an eventual triple which got past a diving Luke Edwards in center.
Carson Roccaforte and CJ Willis each added a double for Louisiana with Heath Hood collecting a pair of hits and a pair of stolen bases.
Copen allowed three runs and allowed five hits in 5.0 innings for Marshall, which dropped a 15-9 decision to No. 24-ranked West Virginia on Wednesday. Ayers and Peralta had two hits apiece to lead the Thundering Herd.
The three-game series resumes on Friday when the teams face off in a 5 p.m. CDT contest. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can be heard in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.
Single-game tickets are available by visiting the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome or purchasing by visiting Account Manager [am.ticketmaster.com]. For more information call the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome at (337) 265-2104.
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