LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball team wrapped up its fall practices, splitting a pair of nine-inning exhibition games against LSU on Sunday at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.
In the opener, LSU scored all of its runs in the middle third of the scrimmage and claimed a 9-4 victory before Louisiana came back in the nightcap to earn a 6-3 win.
Caleb Stelly, Lee Amedee and Jose Torres each drove in runs for the Ragin’ Cajuns in the opener with Drew Markle leading a seven-hit attack with a 2-for-4 performance. Blake McGehee earned the start in the opener for Louisiana and pitched 3.0 hitless innings with three strikeouts.
Jared Jones broke open the scoreless contest in the fourth inning with a solo home run before belting a grand slam in the fifth to give LSU a 6-1 lead. The Tigers added home runs from Chris Stanfield and Michael Braswell to take a 9-1 lead before Louisiana scored twice in the sixth and once in the seventh to close the gap.
Louisiana took a 2-0 lead in the nightcap as it took advantage of a pair of LSU errors. Freshman Blaine Lucas led off the inning when he reached on an error before eventually scoring from third on a passed ball and throwing error.
Trip Dobson, who moved Lucas to third on a hit-and-run single through the right side, would give Louisiana a 2-0 lead when he scored from third on Griffin Hebert’s RBI single to left.
The Ragin’ Cajuns pulled away from a 2-1 lead in the sixth scoring three runs and taking advantage of a third LSU error. Casey Artigues started the rally with a one-out double to left before Brooks Wright reached on a bunt single. Mark Collins’ sacrifice bunt up the first base line allowed Artigues to score on a throwing error and Lucas would follow with a two-run single through the right side for a 5-1 lead.
Lucas went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead Louisiana with Dobson going 1-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Owen Galt finished 1-for-3 with an RBI for Louisiana with Carson Hepworth going 1-for-4.
Parker Smith (2.0 IP, 1 H) and Matt Gaither (1.0) combined for 3.0 innings with a pair of strikeouts for Louisiana with James Trimble (3.0 IP) fanning two batters and scattering three hits. Riley Marcotte fanned two of the three batters he faced in relief for the Ragin’ Cajuns while Drew Kirby pitched the final 1.1 innings with a strikeout.
Louisiana will officially open the 2025 season on Feb. 14-16 when it plays host to San Jose State in a three-game series at Russo Park.
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball season tickets are available for purchase online at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685). Fans can also support the baseball student athletes, and invest in the program’s future, through the Krewe Allons NIL Collective (click here).
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