Cajun Pitching Shuts Down Coastal Again, 5-1

For the second night in a row a starting pitcher set the tempo for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, as Hogan Harris pitched six strong innings and the Louisiana bullpen was perfect in the final three as the Cajuns beat 15th ranked Coastal Carolina for the second straight night, 5-1 at M. L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

"His (Harris') spin rate is so good," head coach Tony Robichaux said, "and the shadows between home plate and the mound helped that spin rate."

Harris (4-1) allowed a leadoff single to Cory Wood and walked Seth Lancaster, putting runners at first and second with no outs. A pair of fly balls brought Wood home with what would be the only run the Chanticleers (31-16, 17-6) would score on the night.

"We told him to minimize (the damage), which he did," Robichaux said, "and then he really settled in."

The Cajuns (28-20, 14-9 Sun Belt) had trouble settling in against CCU starter Jason Bilous (6-2) who was perfect through the first three innings, striking out six of the nine batters he faced. But the Cajuns didn't strike out again while the right hander was in the game.

Daniel Lahare doubled to lead off the fourth inning and was sacrificed to third by Hayden Cantrelle and scored on Gavin Bourgeois' sacrifice fly. to tie the game. And, the Cajuns untied it in the fifth when Kennon Fontenot led off with a double. Zach Lafleur bunted and Bilous threw the ball down the right field line to score Fontenot and move Lafleur to second. Kole McKinnon's bunt went for a base hit and Jonathan Windham lifted a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-1.

Louisiana added insurance runs in the next two innings when Lahare walked and later scored on an error, and Tyler Stover's suicide squeeze bunt in the seventh got the fifth run of the game home.

"We got the lead man on and then used the bunting game to get some things done," Robichaux said. "I don't know if they understood all the bunting we did early in the season but I think they do now."

Harris exited after a leadoff double in the seventh. Nick Lee got three ground ball outs to close the inning without allowing the inherited runner to score and Logan Stoelke was perfect in the final two frames with three strikeouts to nail down the Cajuns' fourth straight win and 16th in their last 20 games.

The Cajuns go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:00 pm.