Louisiana Baseball Falls 13-4 to TCU in Second Game of Series

TCU scored 11 runs over three innings and beat the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in game two of their weekend series 13-4.

The Cajuns pitchers struggled with walking batters and the 15th-ranked Horned Frogs took advantage of the opportunities they had with runners on base.

Freshman starter Hayden Durke had two unearned runs scored on him in the first inning with a two-out error and hit. Durke lasted only two innings in the game after the Horned Frogs took their first lead of the series at 2-0.

Head coach Matt Deggs was still complementary of Durke and explained his decision to remove the starter after six outs.

"This isn't your typical freshman year, Deggs said. "He's had taxing outings, but it's been a very rugged schedule. He's going to be a very good pitcher."

The Cajuns bats cut the lead in half in the fourth inning with a RBI-single by Drake Osborn, but they left two runners on. Cajuns relief pitcher Austin Perrin did an excellent job of keeping the game within reach with three scoreless innings.

However, TCU started the onslaught in the sixth inning. With the score still at 2-1, the Horned Frogs finally broke through against Perrin. A solo home run and a two-out, two-RBI triple made it a 5-2 game, but TCU was not done.

Cajuns relief pitching gave up four runs on one hit in the seventh inning. Three straight walks to load the bases with no outs doomed Louisiana in a huge inning that blew the game open at 9-1.

In the eighth inning, the Horned Frogs loaded the bases with no outs for the second straight inning, and a sacrifice fly ball and three-run home run stretched the lead even further to 13-1.

Those three consecutive innings sealed the loss for Louisiana.

Junior catcher Nick Hagedorn hit the Cajuns' third three-run home run of the series in the bottom of the eighth, but the hole was too large to dig out of that late in the game.

Deggs discussed the issues the Cajuns' pitching faced in game two, but he credited Perrin with keeping the team in it early and liked what he saw from the batters.

"They're a very disciplined ball club and you've got to be in the strike zone," Deggs said. "AP (Perrin) came in and gave us a chance, and I thought we competed well at the plate today."

The Cajuns are now 11-9 on the season. The loss sets up a rubber match in game three of the series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Louisiana starter Carter Robinson will pitch for the Cajuns.