Louisiana Baseball Comes Up Short Against Tulane, 6-4

LAFAYETTE, La. – The 15th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team saw its comeback bid come up short against Tulane as the Cajuns fell 6-4 on Wednesday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

The loss marks the first time the Ragin' Cajuns (11-8) have lost in consecutive games this season. Louisiana also saw its home record fall to 7-4, while the Green Wave won their third straight contest to improve to 8-13.

"You have to always pitch against the three-run inning," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "When you play a 56-game schedule you're going to get into what I call rough baseball where things don't sync up. Right now we don't have things synced back up. Last night we get good pitching but we don't hit and then tonight we fall behind early and then get hitting late. It's just one of those things you have to grind through it and fight through it till you get on the other side of it."

Starter Jevin Huval suffered his first loss of the season after giving up four runs (one earned) on three hits with a strikeout in an inning of work.

The Louisiana bullpen stood up over the final six frames as Colton Lee, Haden Erbe, Jacob Norman and Dylan Moore combined to hold the Wave scoreless allowing just one hit while striking out seven.

Tulane reliever Sam Bjorngjeld (1-2) earned the victory tossing 5.1 scoreless innings scattering three hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Brandon Issa picked up his first save of the year in the contest tossing 1.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

Offensively, the Cajuns outhit the Green Wave 9-6 led by third baseman Joe Robbins who went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and scored twice. Hunter Williams had the only multi-hit effort for Tulane going 2-for-4 and scored two runs.

Freshman Todd Lott saw his 10-game hit streak come to an end in the contest going 0-for-2, while right fielder Steven Sensley extended his on-base streak to 15-games.

Tulane exploded for four runs on three hits and a Louisiana error in the top of the first take a 4-0 advantage. The Green Wave had three consecutive hits to start the game including an RBI single by Jarret DeHart back up the middle. After Tulane added a run on a Huval throwing error, the Green Wave picked up the final two runs of the inning on an RBI groundout to shortstop by Sal Gozzo and a sacrifice fly to left field by Tyler Heinrichs.

The Ragin' Cajuns got on the board in the bottom half of the first on a two-out, bases-loaded walk by Sensley to make the score 6-1. Bjorngjeld came on in relief with the bases still loaded and got second baseman Brenn Conrad to ground out to third base to end the threat.

The Green Wave tacked on two more runs in the top of the third on a pair of sac flys by Gozzo and Heinrichs to extend their advantage to 6-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, Robbins pulled the Cajuns within three runs on a two-run blast well over the fence in left field to make the score 6-3. The home run was the second of the season for Robbins.

Conrad cut the Tulane lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the eight with an RBI single to right field plating Tyler Stover from second base, but that was as close as the Ragin' Cajuns would get in the contest.

Louisiana returns to Sun Belt Conference action on Friday at 6 p.m. in the first of three contests a Troy. All three contests will be broadcast live on News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM with Jay Walker and Jeff Schneider making the call.

For the latest updates on Ragin' Cajuns baseball, follow Ragin' Cajuns baseball on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.

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Team Stats

Joe Robbins

Brenn Conrad

Ishmael Edwards

Tremaine Spears

Players Mentioned

Brenn Conrad

Haden Erbe

Jevin Huval

Colton Lee

Todd Lott

Dylan Moore

Jacob Norman

Joe Robbins

Steven Sensley

Tyler Stover