Baseball: 2014 Cajuns team set bar higher for program

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, June 11, 2014

The run that wound up one win shy of being in Omaha this week got its start more than a year ago.

The UL baseball team was in Baton Rouge, having just been eliminated by the LSU Tigers from the 2013 NCAA Regional there.

Planning for the 2014 season started almost immediately.

"We had a chance (last year)," starting pitcher Cody Boutte said, "and it just didn’t really work out."

So this year?

"We kind of upped the stakes a little bit," Boutte said.

The Ragin’ Cajuns set their expectations bar even higher, and in many regards they exceeded it.

Before, that is, Monday night’s Game 3 Super Regional loss to Ole Miss ending things, which sent the Rebels to the College World Series and left the 58-10 Cajuns at home.

UL won the Sun Belt Conference’s regular-season and Tournament titles, as it set out to. It got to host a Regional. And it won the Regional, doing what it could not in Baton Rouge.

It lost only two regular-season road games, one at Texas-Arlington, one at Arkansas State. It won at LSU, which made the NCAA Tournament. It took 2-of-3 at home from Alabama, which did the same. It also won a pair against Southeastern Louisiana, another NCAA Tournament qualifier.

Moreover, the Cajuns got to host a Super Regional for the first time in school history. They rose to consensus No. 1 in national polls, something no other major program at UL has done, and remained No. 1 when NCAA postseason play got under way. And, at No. 6 overall, the Cajuns had their first-ever national NCAA Tournament seed.

It’s just what coach Tony Robichaux had in mind when he told his team "it’s important for us to be a champion."

And more.

To make his point, Robichaux put pictures of three rings up on a bulletin board "that had ‘champions’ " on them and asked, "If you’re fortunate enough to get a ring this year, what will it say on it? Will it say ‘Champion?’ "

In 2013, after all, UL couldn’t boast of being a champion – in the Sun Belt, or at the Regional – on any jewelry.

Now it can.

When the Cajuns walked away from their 2014 season opener, however, it wasn’t at all what Robichaux had in mind.

UL fell 5-1 to Eastern Illinois back on Feb. 14.

"Opening night … we weren’t who we are," Robichaux said. "Then, the next day, we flipped back over to where we really are."

UL went on to win its next 10 straight games.

The Cajuns never did lose back-to-back games during the regular season, and they never lost a regular-season weekend series.

After a regular season-ending 6-5 win over rival ULM Monroe, they stood at 49-7 overall – and went on to win more games than any Sun Belt team ever has.

It was during that May 17 victory over the rival Warhawks, a 14-inning affair, that team leader Jace Conrad set the tone for what was to come.

It was around the 11th and 12th inning, the second baseman said, that "I just kind of screamed across the dugout, ‘This is a good challenge for us. … It’s gonna pay off later.’ "

It did.

UL’s very next game, its opener at the Sun Belt Tournament in Mobile, was against ULM, and the Cajuns won 7-3.

They went on to win three more in Mobile, two against Texas State and one against UT Arlington to sweep the conference tourney.

Hosting the Lafayette Regional at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field, however, things did not open nearly so well for UL.

Jackson State upset the Cajuns 1-0, meaning they would have fight their way through the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination Regional to make it to the Super Regional.

"That night we beat ourselves," catcher Michael Strentz said. "And we always talk about, ‘Our biggest component is ourselves.’

"We were down," Strentz added. "We didn’t want to lose that first game. But we knew we had the mental toughness and everything to come back and win it all."

The Cajuns did just that.

First they eliminated San Diego State. Next, in a rematch, they eliminated Jackson State. Then, with two straight wins, they eliminated Mississippi State as well.

"I think this game, baseball, and the Lord, they both have a way of humbling you in unexpected ways," left fielder Caleb Adams said before the Super Regional.

"It was more of a humbling experience (to lose to Jackson State). But, also, when our backs are up against the wall and there’s nowhere else to turn, that’s when we perform our best.

"It definitely brought us together," Adams added with reference to that unexpected loss to the SWAC Tournament-champion Tigers. "And I think we made a lot more memories coming back through the loser’s bracket, and having to scratch and claw, than if we were to be blessed enough to just (run) through that tournament. So it definitely was an awesome weekend for us."

After a long weekend playing in front of passionate and supportive fans, the Cajuns reveled in the win – their first in a Regional in 14 years.

"I’ve never felt anything like it," Strentz said. "I’ve been here four years. And, really, having that win … after we fell short (last season) … was probably one of the most-amazing things I’ve ever been a part of, especially for our team."

The exuberance carried over into a 9-5 win over Ole Miss last Saturday night in Game 1 of the best-of-three Super Regional at The Tigue, one boosted by home runs from Tyler Girouard and Dylan Butler.

But that’s where the Cajun run came to a crawl, and finally an end.

The Rebels won Game 2 5-2 on Sunday night to knot the series at 1-1, then took Game 3 10-4 on the strength of a four-run ninth inning that sealed the Super Regional for Ole Miss.

With that, all Cajun hopes of returning to Omaha for the CWS for the first time since the only time they’ve gone – in 2000 – were dashed.

Adams ended up hitting a team-high .381, Conrad .364 and shortstop Blake Trahan .355.

Adams produced a team-leading 11 home runs and scored a team-best 67 runs. Conrad had a team-high 20 doubles and stole a team-best 22 bases, and he and Seth Harrison each had a team-leading 65 RBI.

Weekend starters Boutte (9-1), Carson Baranik (11-2) and Austin Robichaux (8-3) went a combined 28-6.

Relievers Matt Hicks (8-1), Ryan Wilson (6-0) and Reagan Bazar (4-0) went a combined 18-1.

Wilson finished with seven saves, Bazar six and Matt Plitt five.

Among seven Cajuns drafted, including seniors Plitt and Ryan Leonards, Harrison went in the seventh round to the San Francisco Giants and Adams went in the 10th round to the Los Angeles Angeles.

Conrad, Robichaux and Baranik also had their names called.

Conrad was named Sun Belt Player of the Year, Lafayette Regional Most Outstanding Player, a first team Louisville Slugger All-American and is one of 10 finalists for the Gregg Olson Breakout Player of the Year Award.

Baranik was Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year and a third team Louisville Slugger All-American.

Trahan was Sun Belt Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and was named to USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team.

Tony Robichaux was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year as well.

The one thing the Cajuns didn’t do, though, was the one they wanted to most.

Rather than dwell on not heading north to Omaha as they would have on Thursday, however, Robichaux went another direction late Monday night.

"We’re gonna focus on what they really accomplished," the Cajun coach said.

"I mean, to be sitting here June whatever … and that’s only our 10th loss, to reel off 58 wins like they did, to win a conference championship, a conference tournament championship, a Regional championship and then host a Regional and a Super Regional … is really phenomenal."