Baseball: Clement Lifts Louisiana Baseball To Series Win Over Arkansas State

JONESBORO, Ark. – Senior Kyle Clement had a four RBI day to lift the 27th-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team to a 6-1 victory over Arkansas State in the series finale on Sunday at Tomlinson Stadium.
 
The win marks the fifth series victory for the Cajuns (18-10, 8-4 Sun Belt) on the season and the third in Sun Belt play with two of the three conference series wins coming on the road.
 
"We got a 3-1 road week, and I hope that’s a sign of things turning around," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "We let the first one get away from us this weekend, but we answered and came back to get the next two and that’s big for us. It’s good to see Clem (Clement) back after going down with an injury. He is only going to make us better, and came through with the home run and the double squeeze. The double squeeze, when you execute it, it can break your opponent’s back and it did that today."
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns got a strong performance on the mound from freshman right-hander Nick Lee (5-1) as he recorded his fifth win of the season. Lee limited the Red Wolves (13-14, 4-8 Sun Belt) to one unearned run on two hits in 5.2 innings of work. The Longville, La. native struck out a season-high eight batters in the game.
 
Senior right-hander Eric Carter was also lights out in relief earning his first career save tossing 3.1 scoreless innings to close things out. Carter allowed just one runner to reach base on a Matt Burgess single in the eighth as he had a season-high five strikeouts.
 
ASU starter Cody Jackson was handed the loss after giving up three runs (one earned) on two hits in 5.2 innings.
 
Both the Cajuns and Red Wolves had just three hits apiece in the game with A-State’s Ty White tallying a game-high two hits.
 
Louisiana broke a scoreless contest in the top of the fifth to take a 1-0 edge on a safety squeeze by Brenn Conrad with runners on the corners and one out. Stefan Trosclair walked to lead off the inning and then moved to third on a single through the right side by Steven Sensley.
 
The Red Wolves evened things up in the bottom half of the fifth as Ty White provided his own run stealing third and then came around to score on a throwing error by catcher Nick Thurman who sailed a ball over the head of Lee at the plate.
 
Like in game two of the series, the Ragin’ Cajuns quickly answered as Clement drove a 3-0 pitch from Jackson over the fence in right field for a two-out, two-run homer to extend the advantage to 3-1. The home run was the first of the season for Clement and his ninth of his career.
 
Louisiana tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the eighth. Kennon Fontenot score on a wild pitch with the bases loaded and one out to make the score 4-1. Clement came through for the Cajuns in the next at bat as the team perfectly executed a double squeeze to take a four-run lead.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns return to action on Tuesday at 6 p.m. as the squad hosts Northwestern State in a non-conference game at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field. Following the matchup with the Demons, the Cajuns will head to Statesboro, Ga. for a conference series starting Friday at 6 p.m. CT against Georgia Southern.
 
For updates and info on Louisiana baseball, follow the team on twitter @CajunsBaseball or check RaginCajuns.com.