TROY, Ala. – Junior catcher Handsome Monica came through with the game-winning double in the ninth as the 15th-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns defeated Troy 6-5 to open the series Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field.
 
The victory improves the Ragin’ Cajuns to 12-8 on the season and 3-1 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Troy falls to 12-9 overall and 2-2 in the league.
 
"Our hitters picked up Gunner (Leger) tonight," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "The offense did a great job. They need to do what we did tonight, which was score in multiple innings. Wyatt (Marks) did an exceptional job tonight with that slider. He came in and shut the faucet off, and then we were able to get the big hit."
 
Starter Gunner Leger allowed five runs (two earned) on nine hits in five innings of work. Leger walked two and struck out seven in a no decision.
 
Junior Wyatt Marks was lights out on the mound to notch his first victory of the year tossing three scoreless innings in relief. Marks faced one over the minimum with three strikeouts.
 
Junior Dylan Moore came in and shut the door in the ninth inning to earn his fifth save of the year and 32nd of his career to set a new Sun Belt Conference career saves record.
 
"Dylan will be the first person that’ll tell you that he doesn’t care about records," Robichaux said. "He’s just in this to help get wins for the team. I’m glad for him because this is an example of baseball playing someone back for their hard work and effort."
 
Reliever Marc Skinner (1-2) suffered the loss for Troy after giving up one run on three hits in 1.1 innings of work.
 
Louisiana posted a season-high 17 hits in the contest with Ishmael Edwards, Brenn Conrad and Hunter Kasuls each posting three hits. Troy also had double-digit hits (11) on the night led by designated hitter Joey Denison who went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.
 
In the bottom of the second, right fielder Steven Sensley came up with his first outfield assist of the season gunning down catcher Chase Smartt at the plate who tried to score from second on a single by Denison.
 
The Cajuns used that momentum to explode for four runs on six hits in the top of the third inning to take a 4-0 advantage. With two outs, first baseman Alex Pinero singled to right field to plate Edwards for the first run of the game. Later in the inning, left fielder Kennon Fontenot doubled to right center to plate two more runs. Conrad brought home the final run of the inning on an RBI single to centerfield.
 
The lead would be short lived though as the Trojans answered with four runs of their own to even the contest at 4-all in the bottom half of the third. A two-run single by Denison highlighted the scoring in the inning.
 
Troy went in front 5-4 in the bottom half of the fourth on an RBI single up the middle by left fielder Trevor Davis.
 
After three scoreless frames, freshman Tremaine Spears came up with a big two-out RBI in the top of the eighth singling home Kasuls on a hard hit ball through the right side of the infield.
 
With one out in the ninth, Fontenot reached on a walk and then moved to second on a ground out by Conrad. In the next at bat, Monica hammered a double to the gap in right center to score Fontenot and put the Cajuns up 6-5.
 
The Trojans got a one-out single in the ninth by shortstop Matt Sanders, but Moore retired the next two batters he faced to end the game.
 
The two teams return to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. as the contest was moved up due to impending weather. Sophomore right-hander Nick Lee (4-1, 3.49) will take the mound for Louisiana, while left-hander Austin Crook (3-0, 2.18) will make the start for Troy. Fans can listen to the game live on News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM with Jay Walker and Jeff Schneider making the call.
 
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