ATLANTA – Jacob Schultz tied a career-high with six strikeouts while tossing his first career complete game on the mound and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball team pounded out 11 hits to claim a 6-3 win over Georgia State in a Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Connor Kimple and Carson Roccaforte each belted home runs in a three-run, third inning as Louisiana (22-16, 11-6 SBC) won its fifth straight SBC road game and seventh straight overall against Georgia State (24-15, 10-7 SBC).
Roccaforte, CJ Willis, Kyle DeBarge and Julian Brock each recorded a pair of hits for Louisiana while Max Marusak scored a pair of runs.
Schultz (2-3) handcuffed one of the top offenses in the SBC, limiting GSU to six hits overall with the Panthers getting their first hit of the game on Luke Boynton’s single to lead off the fifth inning. The senior allowed an RBI triple to Will Mize in the fifth, a wild pitch which allowed Mize to score and a ninth-inning RBI double by Cameron Jones.
Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Marusak reached on a one-out double off GSU starter Chandler Dawson (2-4) and scored on an RBI single by Tyler Robertson. The Ragin’ Cajuns plated three more runs in the third as Kimple belted a solo home run to right off Dawson before Roccaforte greeted reliever Joseph Brandon with a two-run blast down the right-field line.
Heath Hood would give Louisiana a 5-0 lead in the fourth when he reached on a two-base error, stole third and scored when Kyle Hilton’s throw got past Mize for the second error of the inning.
Georgia State cut the lead to 5-2 in the fifth after Mize’s triple and picked up its third hit of the inning when Jonathan Ponder singled to right. But Schultz would get DeAngelo Abboud to hit into a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Brock would give Louisiana a 6-2 lead in the ninth as he led off with a single off Ryan Watson, moved to second on a passed ball and scored two batters later on Kimple’s sacrifice fly to right.
Louisiana posted three double plays in the contest while Schultz induced 12 ground ball outs against the SBC’s top home run team. The win helped Louisiana improve to 15-2 all-time against the Panthers while handing GSU its second straight loss at home and fourth overall in 21 contests.
Jones went 2-for-4 to lead GSU at the plate. Dawson, the first of five pitchers used by the Panthers, scattered five hits and allowed three runs in 2.1 innings.
The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT) and will be streamed live on ESPN+. The game can be heard in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5), the Varsity Network and the #GeauxCajuns app.
Senior Jeff Wilson (3-1, 3.83 ERA) will earn the start for Louisiana with Georgia State countering with right-hander Camren Landry (2-2, 3.41 ERA).
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