No. 3 UL Lafayette Wins Second Elimination Game in Two Days, Defeats No. 7 UT Arlington 5-1
TROY, Ala. – The third-seeded UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns defeated the No. 7 seed UT Arlington Mavericks, 5-1, to win its second elimination game in as many days and advance to the semifinal round on Saturday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (36-21) will play No. 6 seed Texas State at 12:30 p.m. CT on Saturday in a rematch of the teams’ first round contest which the Bobcats won 8-7 behind a four-run rally in the ninth inning. If Texas State wins the 12:30 p.m. CT contest the Bobcats advance to the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. If the Ragin’ Cajuns win the first game the two teams will play again on Saturday evening in a winner-take-all contest for a spot in the championship game.
Freshman Evan Guillory started and pitched six innings, struck out seven and scattered five hits for the Ragin’ Cajuns to earn his fourth win of the year. Guillory’s lone earned run came in the sixth inning when UT Arlington (24-32) senior Levi Scott singled in junior Matt McLean who led off the inning with a double.
The UL Lafayette bats once again staked its starting pitcher to an early lead with one run in the bottom of the first and three in the bottom of the second. Junior Kyle Clement reached base on a fielder’s choice before senior Tyler Girouard laced a double to left field to give the Cajuns an early 1-0 lead. Junior Joe Robbins led off the second inning with a single which chased UT Arlington starter freshman Brad Vassar. Mavericks junior Jacob Moreland came on in relief and immediately surrendered a double to junior Nick Thurman and two-run scoring double to senior Dylan Butler. Later on Clement drove in junior Blake Trahan, who reached base on a fielder’s choice to give UL Lafayette the 4-0 lead.
Clement doubled with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning on his way to a 3-for-5 performance at the plate. Junior Stefan Trosclair drove him in with a single through the left side.
The Mavericks pushed their lone run across in the top of the sixth inning. Up until that point UT Arlington had put just two runners in scoring position through 5 1/3 innings against Cajuns starter Guillory. Sophomore Chris Charpentier came on in relief and pitched three innings of no-hit baseball and struck out six to go with three walks. He earned his first save of the season.
Vassar took the loss after he went one inning and allowed two earned runs on two hits and struck out one. Moreland pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief and allowed three earned on seven hits to go with one strikeout. Senior Zach Hobbs finished the game for the Mavericks with 4 1/3 scoreless innings and four strikeouts.