Baseball: UL beats Arizona, now 2-0 in NCAA Lafayette Regional

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, June 5, 2016

 

The No. 14 UL baseball team took care of business Sunday, beating Arizona 10-3 to stay in the winner’s bracket of the NCAA Lafayette Regional at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.

The top-seeded Ragin’ Cajuns will now play at 1 p.m. Monday against the winner of Sunday night’s elimination game between No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 3 Sam Houston State.

If the Cajuns win that one, they advance to a Super Regional against the winner of the Starkville Regional. If not, they will play a winner-take-all if-necessary Regional game at 7 p.m. to determine who advances.

UL won Sunday behind the combined seven-hit pitcher of starter Gunner Leger and reliever Jevin Huval, a key two-run bunt from Brian Mills and the hitting of Stefan Trosclair (three RBI), Brenn Conrad (two RBI) and Kyle Clement (one RBI and three runs scored).

The Cajuns went up 3-0 in the bottom of the first as Trosclair singled in Joe Robbins, Clement scored on Conrad’s bunt and Trosclair scored on Alex Pinero’s sacrifice fly.

Trosclair opened the bottom of the third for the Cajuns with a solo homer to left.

Arizona got one back in the top of the fourth, when JJ Matijevic doubled in Ryan Aguilar.

But UL — which beat Princeton 2-0 in its Regional opener Friday — answered in the bottom of the same inning, with Robbins singling in Brad Antchak to make it 5-1.

The Cajuns didn’t stop there, though, as Mills scored when Clement hit into a fielder’s choice and Clement scored on Conrad’s single up the middle.

Cody Ramer’s two-run homer off of Leger with one in the top of the fifth cut the Cajun lead to 7-3.

UL responded it in the bottom of the fifth, though, as Pinero and Antchak both scored on Mills’ sac squeeze bunt – a classic Cajun small-ball play.

Clement tripled on a ball to the centerfield wall and scored on Trosclair’s sac fly to left in the sixth, making it 10-3.

Leger went 5.0 innings, allowing five hits and the three earned runs while striking out four. Huval pitched the final four innings run-free, walking three but allowing just hits while fanning six.

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