Adam Todd was pushing his pencil, chasing an accounting degree at UL, when the call came.

It was a familiar name, voice and face on the other end, and he wanted a sit-down.

Todd was open to the meeting, quite clued in on the likely subject — the Ragin’ Cajuns needed a backup catcher, and he was available — but still a bit surprised it had come to this.

UL baseball coach Tony Robichaux made his pitch, Todd was rather receptive, and before long the former Carencro High standout was on the team.

Again.

"He was very aware of what we were going through, and we reached out," said Robichaux, who happened to have one spot open on his 35-man roster. "We sat and visited with him about what his thoughts were about coming back and helping (starter) Chris (Sinclair), and helping us, and he was all for it, all in."

"I knew beforehand what was coming, what was needed," Todd added, "and it was kind of an honor to get the call."

Todd played for the Cajuns as a freshman preferred walk-on on 2010, appearing in seven games but ultimately reaching a point where he wondered whether it was worth continuing to play the game he knew so well.

"My last season of baseball was really tough on me," Todd said. "I was kind of at ‘the deciding table,’ and me and Coach Robe talked about it, and I just decided that academics was the way to go for me from there."

With that, a Cajun career was dashed.

No more fastballs flying in. No more breaking balls to chase. No more swings at the plate.

Or so it seemed.

• • •

Todd played a few softball games here and there, but baseball — he thought — was behind him.

No more deep knee bends with an ump hovering behind, no secret visits to the batting cage for a few more cuts.

But he wanted to stay in shape, so Todd took up endurance racing. He trained for triathlons. He had an ironman on his list of long-range goals, maybe after he eventually graduated and there was time to properly train for that.

So he was fit, lungs larger and bike chain well-greased.

But, truth the told, Todd knew there was no way he

going to jump into an NCAA Division I college baseball season mid-stream — sans fall ball — without a few aches and pains around the bend.

Especially in the arm.

"Nothing can replace baseball," he said. "Baseball is ‘baseball shape.’ "

So that is a challenge, as has been getting to know the dozen or so Cajun pitchers who did not throw for UL when Todd last played in 2010.

"It was still all there. I still remember a lot of the calls," he said. "The biggest thing is probably just getting back in there, and catching bullpens, and just meeting all the new pitchers. Pretty much the whole team is new to me."

The youthful Cajuns, meanwhile, have experienced some health issues behind the plate this year.

The thought for 2012 was for Michael Strentz, UL’s No. 1 catcher last season, to play some in the outfield and back up senior Sinclair when need be.

But that plan went down the tubes early this season, when Strentz was lost to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.

And that’s left Sinclair starting all 28 of the 13-15 Cajuns’ games this season.

But anyone who knows a lick about spitballs understands asking Sinclair to play every inning this season borders between unfair and practically impossible.

"It’s suicide," Todd said.

"Chris is holding up good," Robichaux added. "He’s gotten a little bit banged up "» but, overall, he’s hanging in there. He’s a very tough kid."

• • •

When Strentz went down, starting third baseman Tyler Girouard — who played a pinch at catcher for Teurlings Catholic High — became UL’s No. 2 behind the plate.

Girouard really is a position player, however, and the Cajuns prefer him at third.

So out went the shout to Todd, even if he hadn’t picked up a bat or caught in the pen for well more than a year.

Having retained academic eligibility, he rejoined the team last Thursday — not quite halfway through the season, and just in time for last weekend’s three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Florida Atlantic.

Todd didn’t play in Wednesday night’s 2-1 home loss to Southeastern Louisiana, but he appeared in two games against the Owls — relieving Sinclair late in losses last Friday and Sunday — and could see more time when Western Kentucky visits UL this weekend for a three-game Sun Belt series that opens Friday night.

"It’s good to get back into it," said Todd, a junior academically who athletically is considered a redshirt sophomore with two more seasons of eligibility after this one.

"I’ve been playing (baseball) my whole life — and it’s always good to get a second chance," added Todd, whose relationship with Robichaux did not sour even after the two parted ways. "To be out, and get another outlook, then come back in — it’s a whole different game now."

• • •

Todd’s return came at just the right time for the Cajuns, who after falling to SLU have lost seven straight.

Sinclair is playing through a couple minor injuries, including a sore hand and a slight hamstring strain.

And a quadriceps injury has caused Girouard to miss UL’s last three games, meaning that if Sinclair had been unable to go at FAU the Cajuns — had Todd not been on the trip — would have had to reach deep among its other position players for a solution.

"It gives us an actual catcher now," Robichaux said. "He (Todd) still will have a get a little bit of the rust off, of course, but it’s not a position player catching now.

"His role is to help take some pressure off Chris, and help us keep (Sinclair) as healthy as we can keep him," the Cajuns coach added. "Now at least we feel a little calmer — especially the pitching staff, because they’re throwing to a catcher instead of a position player that’s trying to catch."

Perhaps no one, though, is more at peace than Todd, especially now that he’s back in familiar surroundings.

"He had missed the game a lot," Robichaux said.

But now he’s back in.

For how much longer, no one is certain.

But it doesn’t take an accounting major to know he should count, and relish, his blessings for as long as they last.

"We’re just gonna let the season ride," Todd said when asked about the future.

"I’m gonna help the guys out the best I can, and we’re just gonna see how things go from the end of the season."