Cajuns deal Tigers second straight loss

Ragin Cajun Baseball

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY

LAFAYETTE, La. — The rut continues. And it feels deeper.

LSU was outexecuted from start to finish Wednesday night by a Ragin Cajuns squad that continued its solid play. LSU, on the other hand, continued to throw the ball all over the yard and feebly ambled through most of its offensive frames.

The result was a 7-2 Cajuns win to deal the Tigers their second straight loss and drop the team to 11-3.

LSU made three more errors, making it seven in their last two games. Meanwhile, their hosts from Acadiana ran their small ball offense crisply when given the opportunity, and it started early.

The second Cajun hitter of the game drew Gavin Guidry’s first walk of the season, and two pitches later Lee Amadee sprayed an opposite field double to left with the runner in motion to start the scoring. Guidry immediately fired an ill-advised pickoff throw into center to move the runner up to third, and Amadee scored on a ground ball to first baseman Zach Yorke that he fired home in time, but it was low and not secured by Cade Arrambide. A perfect hit and run and a sac fly made it 3-0 ULL and completely set the tone.

Trent Caraway’s booming home run to left cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth, but LSU couldn’t get the shutdown inning to follow thanks to more miscues and more Cajun execution.

Drew Markle spanked a double inside the bag at first and moved to third on a bunt single pitcher Connor Benge fired eight feet wide of first base into right. Blaze Rodriguez’s ground ball single made it 5-2, and a Mavrick Rizy’s wild pitch added another to stake the Cajuns another three-run lead.

LSU never dented it.

The Tiger offensive issue is not over-aggressiveness or lack of a plan. LSU worked some counts and created some early baserunners. There’s just not enough hard contact throughout the lineup.

Jake Brown hit a couple of singles well and flew to the track. Derek Curiel stung the ball twice. Caraway’s homer was tagged, and he flew to the track in right center in the second. Steven Milam’s 5-4-3 double play was hit hard right at the third baseman to end the fourth, and he lined out to first in the ninth.

That was about it aside from Mason Braun’s garbage time single.

At this point, LSU is pressing a little bit. It’s hard not to. Johnson is using a ton of pitchers and starting a multitude of position players. None of it is paying off.

The minor bright spot was that the team’s best hitters at least found the barrel a few times. Now it’s incumbent on Casan Evans, Cooper Moore and William Schmidt to set the tone for another weekend.