MONROE, La. - A pair of squeeze bunts in the
top of the 10th inning led UL-Lafayette to a 5-3 Sun Belt Conference win over
the ULM baseball team Saturday night at Warhawk Field.
Tyler Girouard drew a four-pitch walk to open
the top of the 10th for the Ragin' Cajuns (12-7, 2-0), then moved to second
base on a Dylan Butler walk. Chase
Compton sacrifice bunted back to pitcher Wil Browning (3-1) to move the
go-ahead runs into scoring position.
Tyler Frederick laid down a suicide squeeze with Girouard leading off
third and Browning's throw to catcher Logan Fiasco was just late, giving
UL-Lafayette a 4-3 lead. The Ragin'
Cajuns added an insurance run on a Daniel Nichols sacrifice bunt one batter
later that upped the advantage to 5-3.
ULM's (12-8, 0-2) Jeremy Sy clocked a pitch off
the left field wall that was a few feet from leaving the park, and the Warhawk
shortstop cruised into second with a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth
inning. An intentional walk to Joey Rapp
brought Corben Green to the plate with the winning run at second base. Consecutive pop outs from Green and Judd
Edwards sent the game to extra innings tied 3-3.
A pair of singles to lead off the top of the
eighth inning gave UL-Lafayette two on with one out. Browning relieved Kendall Thamm and struck
out Frederick swinging for a big second out.
A passed ball on Fiasco moved Girouard to third. Nichols drew a full count walk to load the
bags full of Ragin' Cajuns. Browning
forced a Jace Conrad fly out to Abdalla in right field to keep the score
deadlocked 3-3.
The Warhawks loaded the bases in the bottom
of the seventh, with all three men reaching with two outs. Sy earned a four-pitch walk and advanced to
second following a Caleb Clowers free pass.
Rapp drew a four-pitch walk off new pitcher Caleb Kellogg (2-2), but
Green popped out to the first baseman Compton to keep the game tied at 3-all.
Abdalla drilled a full count pitch from starter
Chris Griffitt over the foul pole in left field with two outs in the bottom of
the sixth inning to square the game at 3-3.
Reliever Jordan Harrison retired Brandon Alexander on a putout 1-3 to
halt the ULM surge.
Rapp, Sy and Abdalla led the offensive charge
with two base hits each, with Sy contributing a pair of doubles.
Compton led off the top of the second inning
with a double to the gap in left center field off Andrew Richardson. Frederick drew a full count walk to give the
Ragin' Cajuns two men on with nobody out.
Nichols popped a bunt attempt straight over home play that was handled
by Fiasco for out number one before Conrad flew out to Alexander in center
field. Ryan Leonards blasted a two-out
single through the left side to score Compton and give UL-Lafayette a 1-0
lead.
UL-Lafayette added its second consecutive
inning-opening base knock when Brian Bowman stroked a triple to the gap in left
center. Rapp made a nice stab on a
hard-hit ball off the bat of Girouard for the first out of the third inning,
but the next batter Butler scored Bowman on a sacrifice fly to right field to
up the lead to 2-0. Compton continued
the offensive momentum with a two-out double to right field to chase
Richardson. Thamm entered from the
bullpen and punched out Frederick looking for the frame's final out.
Rapp blasted a 1-0 offering from Griffitt
deep over the left field fence to draw the home team within one (2-1) in the
bottom of the fourth. Abdalla followed
with a chop single through the left side to keep the momentum rolling. Alexander
scalded a sharp grounder to third base that Girouard threw on to first base for
the final out of the inning.
Thamm sat the Ragin' Cajuns down 1-2-3 in the
top of the fifth, as Chis Sinclair bounced out to Sy at shortstop, Bowman struck
out on a 2-2 Thamm offering and Girouard flew out to Les Aulds in left field.
Compton paced the Ragin' Cajun offense with a
3-for 4 evening at the plate, and Leonards added two hits of his own. Kellogg tossed 3.1 shutout innings to earn
the victory.
Game three of the weekend series is scheduled
for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday at Warhawk Field.
