Baseball: Cajuns clinch Sun Belt Western division with win over Warhawks

Nick Fontenot, The Advertiser, May 19, 2018

UL coach Tony Robichaux unveiled his unique approach to coaching starting pitcher Hogan Harris.

“You teach pitchers your whole life to get the ball down,” Robichaux said. “Hogan is better when he gets the ball up. Sometimes when he’s in the strike zone, he needs to come one or two balls higher. That is usually a pitch you don’t teach to most people, but to him, he can get away with that spin rate.”

Robichaux admitted Harris left a few over the plate for UL Monroe hitters to get to, but Harris was effective enough to pitch seven strong innings for the Cajuns Friday. He allowed only one earned run and struck out five while the Cajuns bats came alive in the 9-6 win.

“Hogan located real well tonight,” Robichaux said. “He had the change up and breaking ball over. He missed a couple spots up and down that let the barrel get there, but the better he elevates, the better he is. He did a real good job tonight.”

The addition of Todd Lott to the designated hitter spot has given the Cajuns solid production from that slot, something Robichaux said plagued them all season. Friday, Lott was 3-for-3 with a double.

“Todd has come in and given us a boost, Robichaux said. “All hitters hit better when they know they can play the next day. Early in the fall, we couldn’t get anything out of the DH. He did a great job of breaking out of that and he did the work while he waited. The door opened and he was ready.

“We are collectively swinging the bats better. We have nine guys working now instead of three or four. We are preaching finish and they’re doing a good job of not giving up.”

The win Friday clinched the Sun Belt Western division championship for the Cajuns, something that seemed unattainable during early parts of the season. Robichaux said he appreciates his team’s efforts in never quitting.

“Early in the season, we were trying to win,” he said. “That won’t work. Right now, they are in the process and they are competing instead of trying to win. We got back on the process and started competing and the winning is taking care of itself. Winning is a byproduct of competing. This team never let the outside contaminate the inside, and you have to give the credit to our guys.

“Most people quit half way up the mountain. They don’t quit at the base. This team had a choice to make. Did they want to camp half way up the mountain, or did they want to finish the climb? They kept on hiking, and I really appreciate that. They really could have mailed it in.”

Robichaux said Saturday’s game against ULM is still important, despite the division being locked up. He said they won’t experiment too much, but the Cajuns may get several pitchers work after starter Nick Lee exits.

“We might throw a bunch of people tomorrow because some of them may need to throw in the conference tournament,” Robichaux said. “We might even throw Jacob Norman. We definitely want to win tomorrow, but we might try to get one or two people a batter or an inning to get some dirt under their cleats to get ready for the tournament run.”