MOBILE, Ala. - The UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns claimed their first Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament crown in 16 years as they defeated the UT Arlington Mavericks, 6-5, on Sunday at Stanky Field in Mobile, Ala.
The win by the Cajuns also gave them 53 wins on the season which is a new Sun Belt all-time record, breaking the old record set 28 years ago by South Florida which won 52 games in 1986. The Cajuns also now own the longest winning streak in the country (ten games) and are 10-0 in their last ten.
The Cajuns (53-7) will now wait to see if they will be awarded a national seed come selection day on Monday, May 26. The 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Selection Show, with regional pairings and top eight national seeds, will be revealed in a live, one-hour telecast on ESPNU at 11:00 a.m. CT.
UT Arlington's season comes to a dramatic end as they fall to 33-26 on the year. The Mavericks put up a fight in the championship game but just did not have enough offense to defeat the Cajuns. UTA finished the season going 21-10 in the month's of April and May and 19-11 in SBC only play.
The Cajuns took a bullpen-by-committee approach and received enough solid innings to keep the hot UTA bats at bay. Martin Anderson earned the win for the Cajuns and Seth Harrison came in to close things out in the ninth to earn the save.
Chase Weaver received the loss for the Mavericks after tossing four-and-one third innings. He allowed just one run but the one run was a solo shot to left by Blake Trahan in the bottom of the seventh to give the Cajuns the lead.
The Mavericks struck first in the top of the first as Darien McLemore scored on a Matt Shortall sacrifice fly. They would add two more runs in top of the second on back-to-back homeruns by Levi Scott and Eric Tate to give the Mavericks a 3-0 lead.
The Cajuns added three runs of their own in the bottom of the second as the Mavericks loaded the bases and walked in a run. Ryan Leonards then singled in Michael Strentz and Dylan Butler.
Jace Conrad led off the bottom of the third with a single to left field for the Cajuns. Caleb Adams then tripled to left center scoring Conrad. Greg Davis then flied out to center after a pitching change by the Mavericks, scoring Adams from third and giving the Cajuns a 5-3 lead.
UTA would tie things up one more time in the top of the seventh. McLemore singled following a fly out by Derek Miller. Ryan Bottger then hit a towering homerun to deep right center to even up the score at five apiece.
The very next inning Blake Trahan, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, hit the scoreboard on for his fourth homerun of the season, giving the Cajuns the lead and ultimately the win.
2014 Sun Belt Conference Baseball All-Tournament Team
Ross Moore, UL Monroe
David Hall, Troy
Austin O'Neal, Texas State
Austin Williams, Texas State
Zach Maggio, Arkansas State
Chandler Hawkins, Arkansas State
Travis Sibley, UT Arlington
Zach Thompson, UT Arlington
Darien McLemore, UT Arlington
Matt Shortall, UT Arlington
Jace Conrad, UL Lafayette
Matt Plitt, UL Lafayette
Caleb Adams, UL Lafayette
2014 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Most Outstanding Player
Blake Trahan, UL Lafayette