Cajuns Lose Game 3 in Extra Innings Against Southern Miss 6-3

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles hit an 11th-inning walk-off grand slam to sweep Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns in a hard-fought 6-3 game.

The Cajuns have now lost five straight. They are 9-8 on the season.

For the second straight day, the Ragin' Cajuns used stout pitching to carry a stagnant offense. Junior starter Carter Robinson tossed four innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run.

The Golden Eagles opened the scoring with a RBI-single in the bottom half of the first inning after a fielding error allowed a runner to reach third base. After that, the Cajuns pitching was lights out and didn't give up another run in regulation. It was up to the Cajuns offense, and the bats struggled again.

Finally, in the sixth inning, the Cajuns broke their 14-inning scoreless drought with a RBI-groundout by junior outfielder Connor Kimple.

That was the last run scored in regulation. Both teams left two runners on base in their halves of the ninth inning, and the game went into extras.

Louisiana struck first in extras, and Jonathan Brandon gave the Cajuns their first lead of the game on a two-out RBI-single to make it 2-1.

Southern Miss responded by tying the game on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 10th, and the Cajuns were forced to respond. After taking the lead again, a double-play kept the game at 3-2 in favor of Louisiana, needing three outs to take the final game of the series.

Southern Miss loaded the bases on a single and hit-by-pitch, and a one-out walk-off grand-slam in the bottom of the 11th completed the Golden Eagles sweep of the Cajuns.

Head coach Matt Deggs praised his team's pitching, and, despite the sweep, saw things that he liked from the offense late in the game.

"I thought the pitching got it done all day," Deggs said. "They gave us a chance to win."

"Confidence is a huge deal, especially at the plate," Deggs said. "I think we started to build some near the end there."

Next up, Louisiana finishes their five-game road trip on Tuesday night against Nicholls State. They host TCU next weekend.