Baseball: Moore Field set to get a face-lift with new turf, drainage – Golf:On Par-Soccer-Volleyball

Baseball: Moore Field set to get a face-lift with new turf, drainage – Golf:On Par-Soccer-Volleyball

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • November 4, 2009

Now that UL’s baseball team has wrapped up the 15th annual Fall World Series, the installation of artificial turf and an underground drainage system is expected to begin sometime in the next 10 days at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

That’s an exciting proposition for coach Tony Robichaux.

"It’s worked out perfect for us," Robichaux said. "We were able to do our 29 days of fall practice, finish the World Series and now go back into our skill work, lifting and conditioning, which can really be done all indoors. We can get out of the way and let the turf company come in and start this project."After rain delayed the start of the Fall World Series for two days, the Black team swept the Red team in both games Sunday by scores of 5-3 and 4-2.

Justin Robichaux got the win in Game 1 in a matchup with Zach Osborne, allowing one run in 3.2 innings. Randall Bulliard earned the save. After a lead-off double in the seventh, Adam Todd scored the go-ahead run for the Black on William Long’s single to left field.In Game 2, reliever Joey Satriano was the winning pitcher as Bulliard picked up another save. Chad Keefer gave the Black the lead with a two-out RBI double in the sixth off Red pitcher Jordan Nicholson.

Keefer finished 5-for-8 with two doubles and one triple in the series. The Red team was led by junior college newcomer Lance Marvel, who was 4-for-7 with two RBI.Robichaux said he was impressed in the fall with the play of Todd and Marvel and the improvement made by Bulliard and fellow pitchers Dayton Marze and Blake Wascom since last season. He was also pleased with the transition made to UL’s pitching system by his new arms.The Cajuns should have better pitching depth, be stronger defensively and be more aggressive on the bases in 2010, Robichaux said. His main question will be with the bats.

"We finished dead-last in the conference last year in hitting, so that’s got to continue to improve," he said. "We did improve as the fall went on (hitting-wise). With the improved pitching depth and defense, we can keep the high-scoring games down.

"That’s the only question mark I have going back into the spring is where we might be as hitters. I think the quality of pitching they faced in the fall will pay off in the spring."

On par

UL’s golf team ended the fall season with a first-place finish and three top-five individuals at the Carter Plantation Intercollegiate on Tuesday in Springfield.

The Cajuns slipped past Rice by one stroke with a two-day, three-round score of 870. It was the team’s first win and third top-five finish this season.Andrew Noto finished in a tie for second with a five-under total of 211. He led the event with a 3.90 par-4 scoring average.

Kyle Pritchard and Philipp Fendt tied for fifth at one-under par (215). Pritchard led all par-5 golfers with a 4.50 stroke average. Fendt logged his third top-five finish in the fall. Noto, Pritchard and Fendt were named to the all-tournament team."The past two weeks, we’ve had some frustrating results," coach Theo Sliman said. "But today showed what these guys are made of. They got after it out there. It’s a great way to close out the fall season and build some momentum heading towards the spring."

The Cajuns open the 2010 spring schedule on Feb. 15 at the Oak Hills Invitational in San Antonio, Texas.

No goal

An injury-filled season concluded for UL’s soccer team with a 3-2 overtime loss to UL Monroe on Saturday.

The Cajuns (2-16-1, 2-9 Sun Belt) took an early 2-0 lead after goals by Cayla Chatman in the 20th and 22nd minute, respectively. It was her first multi-goal match of the season. ULM responded with goals in the 63rd and 73rd minute before scoring the winning goal in overtime.Chatman finished with a team-high six goals this season. That’s good for fifth in school history in a single season.

Tough break

UL’s volleyball team fell to Sun Belt leader Florida International in 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-21) on Sunday, extending its losing streak to four straight matches.The Cajuns (8-21, 2-12) finished with 19 kills, while FIU (24-2, 14-0) logged 47 kills. The Golden Panthers posted at least 15 kills in each set.

Caroline Dufrene and Amie Goodwin had six kills apiece for UL. Lindsay Brown made only four digs as FIU had three players with double-digit kills. Yarimar Rosa led the Golden Panthers with a match-high 14 kills.

The Cajuns play at Denver on Saturday and North Texas on Monday before taking on New Orleans at home on Nov. 13.