Baseball: Osborne’s gem, continued hot bats advance Cajuns at SBC tournament

From staff reports • May 21, 2009

TROY, Ala. – UL obviously brought its bats to the Sun Belt baseball tournament.

Ranked the No. 5 seed, the Ragin’ Cajuns powered past No. 4 seed Florida International, 11-3, behind a strong offensive effort Wednesday morning in the first game of the league tournament at Troy’s Riddle-Pace Field.

UL (26-28-1) won its fourth consecutive game after racking up 14 hits with every hitter in the lineup getting at least one hit and scoring once in the blowout. Scott Hawkins led the offensive attack with a 3-for-5 day and three RBIs to help the Cajuns advance to play No. 1 seed Middle Tennessee today at 4 p.m. in the winner’s bracket.

Zach Osborne (5-3) picked up the win as he gave up three runs, two earned, and seven hits in his second complete game of the season.

UL also held the edge in the field, committing only one error while FIU (34-22) made four miscues.

"We tried to put those three things together all season, and we did today," UL coach Tony Robichaux said of the hitting, pitching and defense. "If you want a time to put it all together, this is definitely the time to do it."

The Cajuns, who lost two of three to FIU in the regular season, jumped out to a 5-0 lead with a big first inning. Matt Goulas opened the first with a double, and Alex Fuselier reached on a bunt single. After Les Smith drove in the game’s first run with a single, Chad Keefer put down a sacrifice bunt, but a throwing error by FIU starter Scott Rembisz allowed Fuselier to score.

Hawkins followed with a three-run homer, the ninth of the season and 41st of his collegiate career. The opposite field bomb off Rembisz gave UL a lead it never relinquished.

"He was throwing a split-finger or some kind of change-up and got me down 0-2 in the count and tried to jam me," said Hawkins, who earned second team all-conference honors on Tuesday. "I was just trying to get the ball elevated to the right side to get another run in. I was just lucky enough it went over the fence."

FIU fought back with two runs in the bottom of the first on an error and Tim Jobe’s RBI single to cut its deficit to 5-2. The Cajuns added another run in the second as Kyle Olasin singled, stole second and then scored on Smith’s double to short right center field.

After the slow start, Osborne gave up a triple to Greg Waddell in the second – and then cruised until the sixth, retiring 14 of 18 batters during that stretch. The junior right-hander finished with seven strikeouts and three walks in the win.

"I felt good after the first inning," Osborne said. "I think I just needed to get those jitters out of the way pitching in my first conference tournament game. Getting a big lead like that really helped me settle in.

"I just tried to pitch to contact, let the hitters hit the ball and let the defense do the work."

FIU’s defense worked in UL’s favor.

In the fifth, Golden Panther third baseman Raiko Alfonso let a grounder by Tyler Benzel roll through his legs with the bases loaded as two more runs scored to make it 8-2.

Kyle Bostick and Benzel ripped back-to-back triples in the top of the seventh for another run. Benzel later scored on Olasin’s sacrifice fly for a 10-2 lead.

After FIU added another run in the bottom of the seventh, Keefer smacked an opposite field solo homer, his eighth of the year, in the eighth for the game’s final margin.

Rembisz (6-3) took the loss after giving up 10 hits and eight runs, five earned, in six innings.

Smith went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for UL, while Fuselier was 3-for-6. Benzel, Keefer and Olasin drove in one run apiece.

A 12-2 winner over No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, MTSU is up next for the Cajuns, who swept the Blue Raiders in the regular season. UL’s projected starter is righty Justin Robichaux (2-3, 2.08 ERA), while MTSU will go with righty Bryce Brentz (5-3, 4.90 ERA).

Brentz was named the Sun Belt’s Player of the Year and first team all-conference in the outfield on Tuesday. The sophomore led the league in multiple offensive categories during the regular season for the Sun Belt’s top hitting team, batting .485 with 27 homers and 67 RBIs.

The Cajuns are ready for the challenge from the Sun Belt Conference regular season co-champions.

"We didn’t come here just to play, we came here to win games and win the tournament," coach Robichaux said. "How we’re playing right now is the way you want to play at this time of the year."