On Friday, March 8, Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball began its home series against the Tulane Green Wave. Coming off of three straight losses the prior weekend, the Cajuns needed some positive momentum badly, and a 3–0 shutout of the Northwestern State Demons on Wednesday seemed to provide that.
In Friday’s match against Tulane, LP Langevin drew his second start of the season, but would have to wait 30 minutes after two at-bats due to a rain delay at the park.
Once things got going properly, Langevin ran into some trouble, allowing a full-count walk and a two-RBI double to Tulane’s Connor Rasmussen to open the scoring.
The Cajuns would answer in their half of the inning, as Tulane’s starter Luc Fladda would also have control issues, issuing a walk on four straight balls to open. A fielding error early by Tulane shortstop Marcus Cline let Maddox Mandino score, 2–1.
A series of well-timed sac flies would tack on another three runs for the Cajuns in the bottom of the third. Mason Zambo and Conor Higgs seemingly blew the game wide open in the sixth, creating another four runs to put the score at 8–2.
Back-to-back home runs in the seventh and a litany of hits in the eighth put Tulane right back in the driver’s seat, though, and Jackson Linn would land a two-RBI single to put the Tide back up. The Cajuns, unable to answer, were saddled with another loss, 8–11.
Head coach Matt Deggs voiced some frustration at the wasted opportunity, but seemed confident that this was a blip rather than a trend after the game.
“Yeah, it’s 8–2 in seven, and with our bullpen fully stocked, that’s uncharacteristic of us,” Deggs said in a postgame interview with ESPN Southwest Louisiana. “I’ll take those odds any day of the week.”
“Got a good performance offensively, LP [Langevin] did great for having to start in the rain, give up two cheap runs there because of a wet baseball, he’s got no grip,” Deggs said, citing Langevin’s first-inning woes.
“But we’ve got to finish that game, winning is hard at this level. Once you get that lead, you’ve gotta finish somebody off.”
Saturday afternoon, Andrew Herrmann got a start for the first time since the LSU match. Similarly to that start, Herrmann had some luck on his side for this appearance, as his only mistakes (allowing three single-run home runs) didn’t prevent him from keeping the Tide’s offense stifled through eight innings.
Meanwhile, the Cajuns ground down on offense, with RBI from Kyle DeBarge and Duncan Pastore coming early. Their opportunity to change the complexion of the game would come in the eighth, where down 2–3, Trey LaFleur hit a home run to left-center to take the lead back, 4–3.
The Cajuns’ Jack Martinez came in for the final inning, and actually blew his save when Tulane’s Brady Marget smacked a single down the left foul line on a 1–2 count, evening the score at 4–4. The Cajuns left two stranded on base in the bottom of the ninth, and extra innings seemed to promise another disaster.
Fortunately, Martinez shook off a full count in the top of the tenth and retired the side in effortless fashion, giving the Cajuns bats another chance, where they capitalized. Lee Amedee hit a center-field double, and LaFleur ran home. Ballgame.
This game will hopefully serve as a proof-of-concept for the team: great pitching can punish what good hitting sometimes can’t. Next up at home for the Cajuns is a three-game series against the Arkansas State Red Wolves starting Friday, March 15, followed by a midweek match against the Southern Jaguars on March 19.