Coming off a three-game Sun Belt Conference sweep on the road, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball team opens a season-long, nine-game homestand on Tuesday when it entertains in-state opponent Nicholls at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Louisiana (20-8) enters the midweek contest against Nicholls (20-10) with the nation’s longest win streak at 11 games. The Ragin’ Cajuns capped off their second consecutive SBC sweep with a 7-6 win at Texas State on Saturday – the first-ever sweep for Louisiana in San Marcos.
Kyle DeBarge (.313-8-30) leads Louisiana in average, home runs, and RBI with Josh Alexander (.310-2-15), John Taylor (.307-3-14), Jose Torres (.301-1-16), and Lee Amedee (.301-2-15) averaging above .300 at the plate.
Right-hander Jack Martinez (2-2, 4.68 ERA) will earn his third start of the season for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who enter the game ranked 13th nationally with a 3.80 team earned run average.
Nicholls opened a seven-game road trip with a three-game sweep at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last weekend. The Colonels rank in the top-10 nationally in runs scored (7th, 273) and hits hits (5th, 318), while boasting the 12th-best batting average (.322).
Edgar Alvarez (.462-6-40), Parker Coddou (.345-2-20), and Garrett Felix (.317-2-24) are the top hitters for the Colonels, who captured the 2023 Southland Conference Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Regionals.
Louisiana leads the all-time series against Nicholls, 77-55-1, with the Ragin’ Cajuns winning eight of the last 10 meetings. Both teams split a home-and-home series in 2022, with Nicholls claiming a 6-5 win in Thibodaux before Louisiana posted a 6-1 win at Russo Park.
