LAFAYETTE, La. – The Sam Houston State Bearkats struck out 12 and led for the majority of the day, but free passes got the best of them as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns came back to steal a 7-5 win in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
The Kats (6-4) used three pitchers who combined to strike out a dozen Louisiana (4-8) hitters and allowed just five hits in the game; however, the Cajuns were able to take advantage of six walks and three hit batters to fuel their comeback.
Of the seven Cajun runs scored, six were scored by hitters who reached base either by walk or being hit by a pitch while only freshman Julian Brock finished with multiple hits.
Matt Dillard took the loss despite pitching well out of the bullpen in relief of starter
Caleb Cannon. The sophomore lefty struck out a career-high seven with just one walk in 3.1 innings of relief, but allowed three runs on just one hit in the game.
Brandon Talley picked up the win with 4.0 innings of 1-run relief, while Jacob Schultz got the save with 1.1 scoreless innings.
Trent Touchet and
Jack Rogers each had a pair of hits for the Kats with Touchet delivering each of the Kats' first two RBI.
Erick Davila also had an RBI squeeze bunt that gave the Kats a 5-4 lead in the sixth.
A 2-out RBI single by Touchet scored
Christian Smith in the first inning to give the Kats a quick 1-0 lead, but the Cajuns answered with a 2-out RBI of their own in the second when Tremaine Spears doubled home Julian Brock who had led off the inning with a walk.
An inning later the Kats went back out in front in an inning that was fueled by Touchet once again. The Shreveport native lined an RBI single to right-center field with two away once again to put SHSU up 2-1. The Kats added two more in the inning on an error and a wild pitch, taking a 4-1 advantage into the fourth.
Cannon did not make it out of the fourth for the Kats after allowing the first two runners of the inning to reach base, and it looked as though Dillard would avoid damage when he struck out the first two hitters he faced out of the bullpen; however, after hitting Connor Dupuy to load the bases, Gavin Bourgeois tied things up at 4-4 with a bases-clearing double into the left field corner.
Dillard and Cajun reliever Brandon Talley put up matching zeros in the fifth before the Kats were able to get on the board again in the sixth. A leadoff walk to
Gavin Johnson and a single by
Anthony MacKenzie put runners on the corners with nobody away, setting it up for freshman
Erick Davila who laid down a squeeze bunt that brought in pinch runner
Jackson Loftin to put SHSU back in front 5-4.
But that lead did not last long as two innings later the Cajuns were able to take the lead for the first time in the game. A walk and a hit batter opened the inning and proved to be the Kats' undoing as they tied it up after a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Three batters late Brock put UL back in front, lining an RBI single to right field for a 6-5 lead.
Louisiana added one more run in the eighth inning, taking advantage once again of a leadoff walk and a Bearkat error for a key insurance run. The Kats did get the tying run to the plate in the ninth after a 2-out walk to
Colton Cowser, but Schultz able to close it out.
The Kats will now return back to Don Sanders Stadium for a five-game week that includes a pair of midweek games against Louisiana Tech, beginning Tuesday evening. They will then kick off Southland Conference play when they host HBU beginning on Friday.
