Baseball: Three big bunts lift the Cajuns past Appalachian State

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, May 8, 2016

 

UL’s Kyle Clement slides home under Appalachian State catcher Chandler Seagle with what stood up as the game-winning run off a Joe Robbins suicide squeeze in a 4-1 victory Sunday at The Tigue.(Photo: LEE CELANO/THE ADVERTISER)

 

 PHOTO GALLERY: Late-inning Big Bunts Lift Cajuns Past Appalachian State

 

Tied through seven innings, UL brought in usual closer Dylan Moore figuring it could scratch together at least one run and Moore could hold Appalachian State at bay.

Done and done.

The No. 19 Ragin’ Cajuns actually scored three runs in the eighth inning to beat the Mountaineers 4-1 Sunday at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field, taking the Sun Belt Conference series 2-1 for their seventh straight weekend series victory and their 10th in 11 series this season.

Centerfielder Kyle Clement scored the game-winner on injured Joe Robbins’ suicide bunt after singling up the middle, advancing on Stefan Trosclair’s perfectly executed push bunt past Appalachian State relief pitcher Reed Howell and moving to third on Brenn Conrad’s sacrifice bunt.

“We finally got some bunts down,” Cajuns coach Tony Robichaux said. “What did them in right there was the short game.”

“That was huge, to manufacture that run right there,” added Clement, who went 2-for-4 and is now hitting a team-high .372. “That kind of breaks a team’s back late.”

Clement got an early jump to the plate, and still barely beat a throw to Appalachian State catcher Chandler Seagle.

In that situation, Clement said, “I probably run harder and faster than I normally would just by adrenaline.”

Robbins, usually UL’s starting third baseman, delivered the critical bunt as a pinch-hitter.

He had to leave the Cajuns’ Friday-night win over Appalachian State after aggravating an injury to his left wrist, did not play Saturday night and missed a second straight start Sunday.

“I knew the situation was coming, and I knew Coach said he’d probably use me in certain situations,” said Robbins, who also knew all the way it would be a suicide squeeze as opposed to a safety squeeze.

“So as soon as the situation popped up,” he added, “he (Robichaux) looked at me, the whole team looked at me, to get the bunt down, so I (had) to get it down.”

Robbins did.

It was much-needed, too, after Mountaineers left fielder Tyler Stroup took true freshman Nick Lee’s second offering of the afternoon over the wall in right field.

“I just try to throw the first pitch of the game, usually, for a strike,” said Lee, a South Beauregard High product. “I just caught a little too much of the plate (with the) second pitch, and when you leave it down the middle in college you know they hit home runs, so that’s why I deserve it.”

The Cajuns, though, responded in the bottom of the first with leadoff hitter Hunter Kasuls tripling before scoring on Brian Mills’ groundout.

Lee settled down after that to strike out a season high-tying eight over six scoreless innings.

“We answered that one and then sat for a while,” said Robichaux, whose 31-17 Cajuns play Wednesday night at Houston and next weekend at Sun Belt-leader South Alabama. “But he (Lee) did a great of pitching under those conditions (and) we played good defense.”

Lee retired 12 straight batters after giving up the Stroup home run.

Appalachian State (15-33) did put runners on first and second in the fifth.

But Lee got out of that inning with three of his eight strikeouts, the Cajuns got out of the sixth with a Brad Antchak-initiated double play and Lee – whose fastball wasn’t at his best Sunday – went to the well to retire the side in order in the seventh with a groundout and two more strikeouts.

“Early in the game, you try to beat them with fastball,” Lee said. “But that wasn’t really working for me. You know, they were jumping fastballs pretty good.

“So I started going to my off-speed stuff. (That) was working good, and they were just swinging at it, man, so I just kept on throwing it.”

UL had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Kasuls went down with a first-pitch popup and Mills grounded out.

Moore – who threw two scoreless innings and improved to 5-0, all in relief – took over in the eighth with the Cajuns, despite what had happened in the prior inning, confident they could produce at least one run.

They did.

And more.

After Clement came across, shortstop Antchak delivered a two-run single that scored Trosclair and Robbins – just in case.

“If you know him, his mentality, he’s a clutch hitter, so I had no doubt he was gonna get it right there,” Clement said of Antchak, who has been struggling at the plate. “That just added insurance runs to what we had already done, so that was big.”

“It was a big thing that we got the one run,” Robbins added, “but it was bigger that Brad came up with the hit that scored two more after that.”

UL’s Stefan Trosclair (23) and Joe Robbins (12) celebrate after both scored off Brad Antchack’s eighth-inning single in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Appalachian State. (Photo: LEE CELANO/THE ADVERTISER)