Baseball: Harris Dominates As Louisiana Sweeps ULM To Close Out Regular Season

MONROE, La. – Sophomore left-hander Hogan Harris was dominant on the mound Saturday as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team defeated ULM 6-3 to complete the sweep at Warhawk Field. The win is the fourth straight for the Cajuns and increases the win streak against the Warharks to 22 consecutive games.
 
"Hogan is getting better every time that he goes out," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "Today he was able to stay in his lane from the first through the seventh inning. I thought our pitchers did a good job of keeping them from getting any momentum late in the game.
 
"The guys did a great job this weekend because all of these games are trap games. I am very proud of the players to come here and stay focused and get the sweep. They had everything to lose this weekend, and that’s not an easy situation to be in. Now they have everything to earn next weekend as we go to the conference tournament."
 
Louisiana finishes the regular season with a 35-20-1 overall record including a 19-10-1 mark in Sun Belt play, while ULM falls to 12-43 on the year and 6-24 in the league.
 
Harris (5-2) held the Warhawks to one run on one hit as he tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work. The Lafayette, La., native faced three over the minimum in the start to pick up his third consecutive quality start and fourth of the season.
 
Senior Jevin Huval notched his first save of the season and fourth of his career in the contest tossing a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts.
 
Chase Beal (3-8) was handed the loss for ULM allowing four runs on three hits with five walks and two strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns outhit the Warhawks 9-6 in the game with Zach LaFleur, Logan Stoelke and Alex Pinero each posting a pair of hits. Junior Steven Sensley increased his on base streak to 25 straight games after drawing two walks in the contest.
 
Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a leadoff solo homer to left field by Handsome Monica. The home run was the third of the season for Monica and his second of the series. Later in the inning, Brenn Conrad came home to score on a wild pitch by Beal with the bases loaded to give the Cajuns a 2-0 edge.
 
LaFleur added to the lead in the top of the fourth driving home Pinero on a double to right center to make the score 3-0. The Ragin’ Cajuns added another run in the inning on an RBI ground out by Conrad down the first base line to plate Monica and give the squad a four-run lead.
 
The Cajuns extended the advantage to 5-0 in the top of the fifth on an RBI single through the right side of the infield by Stoelke.
 
After carrying a no hitter into the seventh, Harris saw it come to an end as Chad Bell singled home Anthony Herrera with two outs to cut the lead to 5-1.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns got the run back in the top of the eighth as LaFleur scored on a double steal to make the score 6-1.
 
ULM made things interesting in the bottom half of the eighth plating a pair of runs on an RBI double by Cade Stone and an RBI groundout to first base by Herrera to cut the lead to 6-3.
 
The Warhawks had two runners reach in the ninth on a pair of two out singles, by Huval got pinch hitter Blake Buckman to fly out to right center to end the contest and complete the sweep.
 
Louisiana returns to action on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT at the Sun Belt Conference tournament as the fourth-seeded Cajuns will face the host Georgia Southern at J.I. Clements Stadium.
 
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