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Baseball Clinches Sun Belt West Title, Beats Troy 2-1Story LinksLAFAYETTE – In a 2-1 thriller in the season finale, Louisiana was able to pitch past Troy on Saturday afternoon, clinching the Sun Belt Conference West Division Championship for the first time since 2018. Heading into the game, the Ragin’ Cajuns needed a UTA loss and a win to clinch a spot as Sun Belt West Division Co-Champions. The Ragin’ Cajuns (30-22, 13-11 SBC) pitching was fantastic all afternoon, highlighted by starting pitcher Carter Robinson.
Drew Frederic smashed the home run to start the game for Troy (27-24, 13-11 SBC), his 10th of the year. The Ragin’ Cajuns picked up two runs after that, one on an RBI ground out by Drake Osborn in the third inning and on a fielder’s choice from Carson Roccaforte in the seventh inning. Osborn finished his day going 1-for-4, putting his season batting average at .333. Osborn also became the first player to walk more than they have struck out in a year since Brenn Conrad did so in 2017. Following Robinson’s exit, Louisiana’s bullpen only gave up two hits in 3.1 innings of work. Louisiana saw scoreless appearances from Chipper Menard, Dane Dixon, Jason Nelson, Blake Marshall and Jacob Schultz. Schultz closed the door for the Raign’ Cajuns, punching out Nick Nolan to earn his fourth save of the season. Louisiana has earned the No. 1 seed in the West Division, putting it in a pod with App State and Texas State at the conference tournament. The first game of the Sun Belt Tournament will begin on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the Ragin’ Cajuns take on Texas State in Montgomery, Ala.
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Aside from giving up a home run on the first pitch of the game, Robinson settled down and spun 5.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits and punching out a career-high eight batters.