RUSTON, La. (KLFY) — The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball team battled back from an early 6-2 deficit scoring six straight runs, but Louisiana Tech rallied with a five-run, seventh inning to claim a 12-8 win in the midweek finale for both teams on Tuesday at J.C. Love Field at Patterson Park.
Walker Burchfield’s pinch-hit, grand slam in the seventh inning helped Louisiana Tech (25-25) erase an 8-6 deficit before Brody Drost added a solo shot in the eighth.
Louisiana (32-18) took a 1-0 lead when Max Marusak belted the third pitch of the game from starter Alec Sparks to right-center field for his eighth home run of the season. The Ragin’ Cajuns increased their lead to 2-0 in the second when Will Veillon and John Taylor executed a double steal, with Taylor scoring from third and recording Louisiana’s school-record 146th stolen base of the season.
The Bulldogs scored four times in the second inning and added a pair of runs without the benefit of a hit in the third to take a 6-2 lead before Louisiana chipped away at the lead.
Louisiana scored four runs in the fifth inning to tie the game at 6-6 as Conor Higgs hit an RBI single, Julian Brock hit a two-run double and Carson Roccaforte followed with a game-tying double into the right-field gap.
Kyle DeBarge’s RBI single in the sixth gave Louisiana a 7-6 lead before John Taylor’s RBI double in the seventh scored Roccaforte from first.
Jerry Couch (0-1) took the loss for Louisiana while Ethan Bates (4-2) earned the victory for the Bulldogs with five strikeouts in 2.1 scoreless innings.
Taylor led Louisiana at the plate after reaching base five times with three hits and a pair of walks. Roccaforte recorded one of five doubles for the Ragin’ Cajuns, to increase his season total to 21 and move into a tie for fifth place in school history.
Louisiana will wrap up its 2023 home schedule beginning Friday when it hosts Texas State in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park. First pitch for Friday’s opener is scheduled for 6 p.m.
