WATCH: Robichaux On Ragin’ Cajuns Early Season Progress
The Ragin' Cajuns have ten games under their belt, and they're sitting at 6-4 overall. Tony Robichaux just hopes the team learned from their losses.
Coach Robichaux always says "W" stands for win and "L" is for learn. You only lose if you don't learn from your mistakes. Baseball teaches a lot of lessons, if you are open to listening to what the game tells you.
"I think the difference maker in our sport is you can't pick or choose the games you are going to lose or win...but you can choose how you respond," Robichaux said at his recent press conference.
The Cajuns are coming off a productive week with a win over Northwestern State in the midweek and a series win over Southern Miss. They experienced bumps in the road already this season with losses to Murray State, Nicholls, Sam Houston State and Southern Miss, and they've dealt with a couple games getting cancelled on top of that.
Coach Robe, like most coaches, will take the results from last week gladly.
"Overall, they had a 3-1 week. If we can do 3-1 weeks all throughout, we will be there at the end," Robichaux said.
Friday's win was another piece of beautiful pitching from Gunner Leger, Wyatt Marks and Dylan Moore, Jevin Huval had a solid game out of the bullpen in Saturday's win, but Sunday was a different story.
In Sunday's 11 inning series finale, the Cajun pitching staff allowed eight walks in the loss, which is too many for Coach Robe's liking.
"That's what happens when you walk people and don't play good defense. You can score 11 runs and not win," Robichaux explained.
Robe said he wants the secondary arms to start pitching better. He specifically pointed out that they need to stop giving up walks, but he is glad some of the younger arms are starting to get weathered on the mound. Again, you only lose if you don't learn.
The back end of the bullpen is getting it done though. Marks is transitioning into his role excellently, and D-Mo is simply pitching like D-Mo.
In his time with the Cajuns, Moore has been nothing but incredible. Over the weekend, he tied the Sun Belt record for career saves with 31, and Coach Robe made sure to single him out in his press conference.
"He's earned that the hard way, to get 31 saves," Robichaux complimented Moore. He added, "He's been in some very tough positions to earn those."
After addressing the pitchers, Robichaux switched his focus to the hitters.
Even though he wasn't pleased with the loss on Sunday, Coach Robichaux pointed out that they still scored 11 runs, which is a testament to the offense getting into their rhythm. After a slow start to the season, the bats are waking up.
"Our at bats have gotten better all the way from Sam Houston to Northwestern to this weekend," Robichaux said. "Our hitters are getting better. They are getting more protection in the lineup...I think our outs are getting more productive. We're seeing the ball better."
One player in particular is stepping his game up at the plate, and it earned him a starting job.
There were a lot of options in the outfield, but Ishmael Edwards is locking down the centerfield position. He is hitting .345 on the season and he is tied for the team lead with seven runs scored. Once he found his way into the lineup, he made sure he stayed there.
Edwards earned trust from Coach Robichaux, who plans on keeping him and his hot bat in the lineup for the foreseeable future.
"He's earned that right, the right to go out there every day right now," Robichaux said.
The game is paying him back for working while he waited, and Edwards has been one of the most consistent hitters in the lineup so far this season.
If the Cajuns can find consistency at the plate and on the mound, the team will be very dangerous. Robichaux wants them to clean up the walks and keep progressing at the plate, and they still have plenty of games left to keep sharpening their blade.