Troy Home Runs Sink Louisiana in 7-1 Loss To Open Sun Belt Play
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team lost 7-1 to the Troy Trojans in the opening game of Sun Belt play.
With the loss, Louisiana fell to 9-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play. The Cajuns had more hits than the Trojans in this game, but Troy hit three two-run home runs throughout the contest, and that was the difference. Head coach Matt Deggs said his team needs to be better offensively to bounce back in the series.
"We've got to compete a little better at the plate," Deggs said. "We've got to put the ball in play a little bit better, and we've just got to play better tomorrow."
Troy struck first with a two-out, two-run home run in the second inning off of Cajuns starting pitcher Tommy Ray, but Louisiana was able to answer in the top of the third inning.
Julian Brock cracked a one-out double and Warnner Rincones brought him home with a RBI-single to score the only run of the game for the Cajuns. He stole second base, but a pop-up stranded him in scoring position.
Troy got a leadoff double in the bottom of the third. A groundout moved the runner to third base, and a sacrifice fly brought him home to make it 3-1.In the fourth inning, Troy hit their second two-run home run of the game, taking advantage of an error to expand their lead to 5-1.
David Christie relieved Ray and sat the Trojans down in order in the fifth. The Cajuns had something going in the top of the sixth inning with two leadoff singles by Will Veillon and Kyle DeBarge, but a double-play and a groundout ended the threat.
Christie got the first two outs of the sixth, but the Trojans earned a walk and then crushed their third two-run home run of the night to begin pulling away at 7-1.
Connor Kimple hit a one-out double in the seventh, but a strikeout and line-out stranded him. Austin Perrin pitched the final 1.2 innings for the Cajuns, and he did not give up a single hit in a strong appearance out of the bullpen.
The final inning of regulation was similar to the seventh. Carson Roccaforte cracked a one-out double for Louisiana, but he was stranded as well after a strikeout and groundout ended the contest. Troy won 7-1 to take game one of the series.
The Cajuns had opportunities in this game, but they were only 2-11 with runners on base. Conversely, Troy was 4-10 in those situations, and three of those hits were home runs. That was the difference in the series opener.
Up next, the two teams play game two of the series on Saturday, March 19 at 3:00 p.m. Brandon Talley is scheduled to start for Louisiana.