Baseball: Louisiana Bests SLU, 9-6, in First Win in Matt Deggs Era

HAMMOND, La. – Louisiana Baseball used an explosion of hits and tremendous plate discipline to beat Southeastern Louisiana, 9-6, at Alumni Field on Tuesday night.

Louisiana finished the night with a season-high 11 hits, 14 walks and 15 strikeouts on the mound.  

The Ragin’ Cajuns (1-3) capitalized on the Lions’ (1-2) free passes in the second inning when Hayden Cantrelle squeaked a double down the third-base line to drive in Jonathan Windham for the first run of the game.

Alex Hannie tallied his first hit of the season in the fourth inning, scoring Sebastian Toro from second to make the game 2-1 before a pair of Ragin’ Cajuns scored from second to extend their lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth inning.

Right-hander Brandon Young had a solid start to his 2020 campaign, throwing 5.1 innings, striking out 10 batters and earning his first win of the season. He got into trouble in the bottom of the sixth when he exited the game with the bases loaded and holding a 4-3 lead with one out. However, Jacob Schultz was able to come in and pitch out of the jam to keep the Ragin’ Cajuns ahead after six.

The flood gates opened for Louisiana in the top of the seventh frame when the team scored five runs, highlighted by a Toro two-run single and a RBI single off the bat of Tremaine Spears. Spears also notched a career high in free passes with three.

Following the monster seventh inning, Southeastern was able to add three runs to its total, but it was not enough as Connor Cooke closed the door to earn the first save of the season. 

Louisiana will play Tulane on Wednesday night with first pitch at 6 p.m. Wednesday’s game will be available for streaming on ESPN �.