Warhawks Take Game One From Cajuns, 6-3
The 900 pound elephant has left the building.
The ULM Warhawks took out seven years of frustration Friday night, defeating the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns 6-3 and breaking a 25 game losing streak against Louisiana.
Chad Bell's three run homer in the third inning broke a 1-1 tie and the Warhawks (24-27, 12-15 Sun Belt) never trailed again.
Trey Jeans, who redshirted with the Cajuns because of an arm injury and then went to junior college, pitched seven innings, allowing just a pair of solo homers. The Cajuns loaded the bases with no one out in the first inning, but Jeans struck out Orynn Veillon and Handsome Monica and got Daniel Lahare on a fly ball to end the threat.
"We had him (Jeans) on the ropes in the first inning and they're (ULM coaches) are ready to come and get him. But we let him off the hook and take the momentum of the game into the dugout with him," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "Then we missed with a pitch that was supposed to be inside and he (Bell) is strong enough to take it out the other way."
The Warhawks got a first inning run off Cajuns' starter Austin Perrin (3-5) in the first inning on a two out RBI single by Andrew Beasley. The Cajuns got on the board in the third off Jeans (4-8) on Hunter Kasuls' fifth homer of the season.
Bell's 16th homer of the season came after a single by Braden Barrett, a sacrifice, and a single by Trent Tingelstead. Bell extended his hitting streak to 16 games, with eight of his homers coming during that time. The Warhawks added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth on a walk, a single by Bell, a ground ball to move the runners to second and third, an infield single and a ground out.
The Cajuns got solo homers from Monica, his 13th in the sixth inning and Veillon, his tenth in the eighth inning. Veillon extended his hitting streak to 18 games with the blast to left-center field.
Despite the loss, the Cajuns clinched a spot in the upcoming Sun Belt tournament, thanks to Little Rock's 2-1 win in eleven innings over Arkansas State.
The Warhawks can clinch their first berth in the tournament since 2014 win with one more win or one more Arkansas State loss.
The two teams will meet again Friday evening at Warhawk FIeld. Brandon Young is scheduled to get the start for the Cajuns.