LAFAYETTE, La. – The Ragin' Cajuns scored seven runs across the first two innings on their way to a 9-2 win over ULM, completing a sweep of the weekend series Sunday afternoon at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
The Cajuns (24-8 overall, 11-1 Sun Belt Conference) won their 15th straight game overall and 11th straight Sun Belt Conference game. ULM (15-17, 3-9) has lost five straight SBC contests.
The Cajuns opened the scoring in the first inning. John Taylor walked and Trey LaFleur added a bunt single. Kyle DeBarge hit an RBI single to left to score Taylor for the 1-0 lead. Three batters later, Conor Higgs grounded out to first base. ULM's
Jake Haggard then threw to second and got Duncan Pastore into a run down, as LaFleur scored before the final out to make it 2-0.
The five-run second gave the Cajuns a big early advantage. Josh Alexander clubbed an RBI triple, Caleb Stelly hit an RBI double, while LaFleur hit an RBI infield single and Pastore collected a 2-RBI single for the 7-0 lead.
The Warhawks picked up their first hit in the fourth inning on
Matt Abshire's double, and finally broke through on the scoreboard in the fifth inning, as
Ian Montz scored on
Carson Jones' RBI single to make it 7-1.
The Cajuns responded in the bottom of the inning as DeBarge's two-out RBI single extended the lead back to seven, 8-1. The Cajuns added another run in the sixth on Stelly's sacrifice fly for the 9-1 lead.
ULM picked up a run in the ninth inning on a three-base error, allowing
Jayson Zmejkoski to score from first for the 9-2 final.
Jack Martinez (4-2) threw the fifth inning and earned the win for the Cajuns, allowing one run on two hits with one walk. Carson Fluno fired four shutout innings in the start, allowing one hit with four strikeouts and two walks.
Justin Robinson (2-1) took the loss for ULM, allowing five runs on five hits with one walk in just over one inning of work.
Holden Hess threw two perfect innings with two strikeouts out of the bullpen, while
Dalton Burrell and
Trey Lindsay threw scoreless frames.
At the plate, LaFleur led the Cajuns with three hits and an RBI, while DeBarge and Stelly had two hits and two RBIs apiece. Zmejkoski had ULM's first multi-hit game of the series with two hits.
ULM opens a five-game homestand at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Northwestern State.
