Louisiana Takes Series from Rice With 5-3 Win
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun baseball team improved to 5-2 on the season, defeating Rice on Saturday by the score of 5-3 to capture the weekend series.
"I thought it was a good game," said head coach Matt Deggs. "Coming off a big win last night, it was a good job by us of coming out and handling our business."
The victory is the 200th Division 1 win of coach Deggs career.
True freshman and STM alum David Christie started on the mound for the Cajuns, going 3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits.
"I thought we were a little bit up and down (with Christie on the mound), which is to be expected," said Deggs. "He's gotten off to a good start, and will continue to get better."
Louisiana scored 2 runs over the first three innings before Rice added 3 in the top of the 4th to briefly take a 1 run lead.
In the bottom of the 4th, the Cajuns answered with runs from Carson Roccaforte, Boby Lada and CJ Willis.
"I guess what I liked most about today is that when we spit up the lead, we were able to answer with a 3 spot there to answer back," explained Deggs.
Roccaforte and Lada led Louisiana in hits with 3 each, fueling the offense when it needed it most.
Following the 3 run 4th inning, the Cajuns turned to their bullpen.
Peyton Havard, Jason Nelson, Conor Angel and Spencer Arrighetti were solid in relief, as Nelson earned the win and Arrighetti got the save.
"We had planned all along to get Arrighetti a couple of innings, and that 5 out spot was perfect for him," explained Deggs.
Arrighetti, who earned the win last Tuesday versus Louisiana Tech, is expected to do a little bullpen work in the midweek, and then settle into a Saturday starter role next weekend.
"He brings a ton of energy to the team," said Roccaforte of Arrighetti. Just the way he handles himself on the mound is really impressive and real fun to play behind."
After a season-opening loss in extra innings to Tulane, and a midweek loss to LSU, the Ragin' Cajuns have won the rest of their outings, keeping a smooth temperament throughout the first 7 games of the season.
"This team has a ton of fight in them," explained Roccaforte. "We never get too high or too low. We know we always have a chance the way our offense has been swinging it. We know our pitchers will back us up as well."
Louisiana looks to sweep the weekend series from Rice tomorrow at Russo Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00, with the radio pregame show beginning at 12:30 on Newstalk 96.5 KPEL, KPEL965.com and the NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL app.