Baseball:Cajuns play for ’36’ but lose on an emotional night + photo gallery and footnotes

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, Feb. 15, 2020

Click here for the photo gallery of the home opener.

On Friday night, UL opened its first baseball season since 1994 with someone other than Tony Robichaux as its head coach.

It happened on 2-14-’20.

You do the math.

It adds up, as Robichaux’s son Austin noted in tweet earlier in the day, to 36.

Thirty-six.

His late dad’s uniform number.

And so it went to start an emotional night on M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park, where the Ragin’ Cajuns began the 2020 without the man who was their head coach for the past 25.

Related: UL season about winning for Robichaux

Robichaux — who took UL to 12 NCAA Regionals, four Super Regionals and the 2000 College World Series — died last July, 10 days after a heart attack.

So 36 everywhere was fitting.

The only thing that didn’t compute well for UL was the final outcome, a forgettable 3-2 loss to Southeastern Louisiana.

But what happened beforehand was something that will long be remembered.

“It was a lot of tears, man,” said Robichaux’s successor, former assistant Matt Deggs. “There probably wasn’t a dry eye in here. That’s our guy.”

“For a lot of the guys, myself included, Coach Robe was baseball for me, in some way, shape or form,” senior centerfielder Brennan Breaux, a local product from St. Thomas More High, added afterward. “Whether you come watch baseball games, whether you played for him … it’s super emotional.”

More: He did it at STM; now UL’s Brennan Breaux may pitch too

A moving video played before the game was narrated by Robichaux’s voice speaking one of his famous "Robeism" sayings after another.

More than 100 of his former players were on the field. A moment of silence was held. His son, Austin, threw out a ceremonial first pitch, as did older son Justin, who like his brother played for Robichaux and the Cajuns.

Robichaux’s widow Colleen came to home plate with Deggs to exchange lineup cards with Lions coach Matt Riser.

Then there was the uniform number.

Robichaux’s 36 was retired on The Tigue’s rebuilt outfield wall opposite of that of UL’s only retired number, former New York Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry’s 3, and his 36 was hoisted up a flagpole under the American one, where it will now fly during every game.

Fans bought and wore 36 memorabilia, and even the opponent Lions wore 36 hats to honor Robichaux.

More: Cajuns baseball coach Matt Deggs, late predecessor Tony Robichaux as similar as they are opposite

UL starter Conor Angel, meanwhile, struck out seven, gave up two hits and walked two in his Cajun debut.

But two batters after he exited, Brandon Hale drilled a three-run homer to left off Cajuns reliever Jeff Wilson.

“That’s on me,” Deggs said of the three-run inning. “I probably could have squeezed Conor through that.

 “There’s an old adage: Better to be too early than too late. But I was wrong tonight.”

Deggs said he was looking to “protect” Angel, a junior-college transfer from Canada who threw 89 pitches on a cold night by Louisiana standards.

“And they were pretty taxing. It took him a while to settle in,” Deggs said. “And once he did … you got a taste of what he’s all about. It’s a power sinker with a good breaking ball.

“(Wilson’s) thrown the ball extremely well all fall, all spring, and we hang a fastball right there, and the kid put it in the trees. … (But) I felt we did a nice of responding after not being able to get a whole lot going at the dish all night.”

Related: Stacked UL pitching staff looks the part going into 2020

By the end of the fifth inning, each Cajun had struck out at least once.

Southeastern Louisiana pulled starter Trey Shaffer, who fanned 10, with one out in the bottom of the sixth and Cajuns on first and second.

Designated hitter Nick Hagedorn promptly dropped a ground-rule double into left, scoring Connor Kimple.

The Cajuns got another back in the seventh, when Breaux scored on Jeff Greene’s RBI groundout, but that was it for UL on night its batters struck out 16 times.

More: Divide closed, Deggs likes how UL compares to 2014 club

“Look, it’s a very emotional time,” said Deggs, whose Cajuns play Louisiana Tech on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. “It’s a very emotional weekend.

“The kids want to win, and sometimes you can try to do a little too much. I think that’s kind of the case (with) what you saw at the plate. We’re better than (that).”

On the mound, though, Angel found a groove after walking the first two batters he faced.

“A lot of nerves to start the first game,” he said.

“Definitely a lot of emotions with Coach Robe and the ceremony, but also the fan presence. … But once I got settled down, man, it’s something else to pitch in front of these guys.”

The challenge of dealing with losing Robichaux, Deggs suggested, isn’t about to go away anytime soon.

“You’re looking, since July 3, at a lot of emotion going into this,” he said. “And I think you’ll see us settle in.

“(But) there’s gonna be several bridges we’re gonna have to cross, and tonight was one of them. The holidays for the family. Just starting school back in August without him. When you’re grieving you have a lot of firsts.

“Tonight, you want to do it for Coach, do it for Coach, do it for Coach,” Deggs added. “Sometimes you can try to do a little too much. … We’ve just got to try to slow down a little bit.”

More: Deggs’ 2020 Cajuns loaded with ‘interchangeable parts’

RAGIN’ CAJUNS BASEBALL

No. 24 UL (0-1) vs. Louisiana Tech (0-0)

WHEN: 2 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park

STREAMING: ragincajuns.com

RADIO: KPEL 96.5 FM

PITCHING: RHP Will Moriarty will start for UL

More: Alcohol cost Ragin’ Cajuns baseball coach Matt Deggs, but Tony Robichaux saved him

Tony played for the Cajuns during the 1983-84 season. Please click here for his Athletic Network profile.

Click here for Tony serving as one of the escort drivers for the USL Sweethearts for the 2013 Homecoming Parade.