Louisiana hit seven runs in the first inning on Friday night and got off to a hot start to defeat the Arkansas state baseball team 15-4 in the Sun Belt Conference opener at ML Tigue Moore Field in Russo Park.
Cross Jumper led A-State (7-9, 0-1 SBC) on the record and recorded two of the Red Wolves’ six hits, including a double. Blake Burris, Brayden Caskey, Allen Grier and Jared Toler each had a run.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (12-6, 1-0) had 14 hits that night and added two runs in the sixth before adding six in the eighth to extend the lead. Starting pitcher Jake Hammond (2-1) knocked out 10 batters and didn’t allow a walk in seven innings, straying four hits and allowing an unearned run.
Louisiana touched A-State starting pitcher Tyler Jeans (1-2) for seven runs with four hits – all doubles – and sent 11 men to the plate. Junior right-back Aaron Evers replaced Jeans in the second game and worked three shutout frames to prevent the hosts from extending their 7-0 lead. Jeans and Evers were two of eight pitchers used by Scarlet and Black.
After a two-out single by Brandon Hager in the first race, Hammond was eliminated 10 times in a row before back-to-back hits from Caskey and Jumper put the runners with no outs in second and third place. Caskey scurried home for second on a pickoff attempt, but the Cajuns starter limited the damage by slapping to the side.
Max Charlton threw up a scoreless fifth before Louisiana extended their two-run lead in the sixth with three singles and an error to make it 9-1 after six. After Jacob Conover beat all three batsmen he faced in the seventh, the Red Wolves pushed over two runs in the eighth when Grier scored on a wild pitch, followed by Burris, who hit after picking a fielder to make it 9-3.
The Cajuns sent out a dozen batters in the eighth round and added six runs to their total, including a grand slam from Conor Higgs to make it 15-3.
Toler led from ninth place with a double and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Grier, but Louisiana release Jerry Couch forced a flyout to end the contest.
NEXT UP
A-State appears to be recovering and even the series against the Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday afternoon in the second game of the series. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. on ESPN+ while the radio show airs on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3, 96.9 and 970 AM in Jonesboro and online at 953theticket.com.
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