This is the third shutout Louisiana (8-9) has pitched this year and the first time that Louisiana has shutout McNeese State (10-7) since April 22, 2014. 

Starting pitchers Carter Robinson and Brody Strahan both tossed a quick first two innings, retiring two more than the minimum batters. 

The Ragin’ Cajuns opened the scoring in the third inning, however, by plating three runs. Alex Hannie got on base and moved over to second on a throwing error before Jonathan Windham brought him home with an RBI single. 

Following the Windham single, Ben Fitzgerald blasted a two-out double to right-center field, scoring Connor Kimple and Windham to make the game, 3-0. 

Louisiana added another run off the Cowboys’ new pitcher in the fourth inning when Brandon Talley laced a double to deep center field, scoring Hannie to make the game 4-0. 

Nick Hagedorn roped a single off the pitcher in the top of the fifth inning and Fitzgerald blasted an opposite field home run to extend the Cajuns lead to 6-0. After entering the game in a late-inning swap, Gavin Bourgeois pushed another runner across the plate on a fielders choice making the game, 7-0. 

Fitzgerald finished the game going 3-for-5 with a triple, a home run and three RBI. 

Louisiana’s pitching was excellent all night. Robinson dazzled in his start, tossing five scoreless innings and fanning three batters in just 60 pitches, while Conor Angel, Luke Cronan, Colton Frank and Austin Bradford all made appearances out of the bullpen, combining for 4.0 scoreless frames in relief and sealing the 7-0 victory. 

Louisiana will open conference play this weekend at M.L. ‘Tigue’ Moore Field at Russo Park against Coastal Carolina. 

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First MSU-ULL game without Robichaux in decades

When the McNeese baseball team hosts rival UL-Lafayette on Tuesday night at Joe Miller Ballpark, Cowboy head coach Justin Hill admits that the pregame coaches meeting at home plate with the umpires could be emotional, and he may not know how to handle it.

That’s because, for the first time since the 1986 college baseball season, Tony Robichaux won’t be in either dugout as head coach when the Cowboys and Ragin’ Cajuns play a game. Robichaux died on July 3, 2019, after suffering a heart attack on June 23. When taking into account his playing and assistant coaching days between McNeese and UL-Lafayette, this is the first season since 1979 that Robichaux won’t be apart of a game between the two teams in some capacity.

"I think the hardest part for me personally is going to be just to get to that first pitch and for it to become a regular game," Hill said in his weekly press conference on Monday morning. "(Robichaux’s absence) hasn’t hit me, on what that plate meeting is going to be like."

Hill shared how Robichaux approached those pregame plate meetings, saying that while most coaches try to be kind to the umpires in an effort to possibly get some calls in their team’s favor, Robichaux would look at the umpire crew and sternly say, "Work hard," before heading back to his dugout.