Louisiana Clinches Outright SBC Title With Win Over Jags

LAFAYETTE – John Taylor’s two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning helped fuel a three-run inning before Thursday’s game was suspended due to weather and No. 21-ranked Louisiana would come back to edge South Alabama, 6-5, to claim the outright Sun Belt Conference regular-season title at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.

In the scheduled game on Friday, Joseph Sullivan belted a pair of home runs and drove in five runs while Jaxon Shineflew struck out 10 batters as the Jaguars claimed a 10-0 win in seven innings.

Louisiana (39-16, 22-7 SBC) and South Alabama (31-23, 14-15 SBC) will wrap up the regular season on Saturday in a 2 p.m. contest. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans able to listen to the game in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.

Prior to the game, Louisiana will honor its Spring graduating class before honoring its eight-man senior class – Carson Fluno, Bryan Broussard, Jr., Blake Marshall, David Christie, Duncan Pastore, John Taylor, Trey LaFleur and JT Etheridge.

LOUISIANA 6, SOUTH ALABAMA 5

Louisiana trailed 1-0 after Lucas Ismaili’s home run in the first inning before knotting the game at 1-1 in the third when Pastore’s two-out RBI single plated LaFleur.

The Ragin’ Cajuns added a pair of runs in the fourth after Jose Torres, Broussard and LaFleur hit back-to-back-to-back doubles with one out off USA starter Cam Hill.

South Alabama would reclaim the lead in the top of the sixth when Micah Morgan belted a three-run homer of LP Langevin to give the Jaguars a 4-3 advantage.

Louisiana would mount a comeback in the bottom half of the inning after Broussard reached on an infield single and stole second. Broussard would tie the game at 4-4 one batter later when Conor Higgs laced an RBI single to right field, and after Kyle DeBarge was intentionally walked, Taylor would single to center off Jaguar reliever Gant Starling (5-2) to give Louisiana the lead for good.

Follow in the resumption of play on Friday, the Jaguars would score an unearned run in the seventh as Rett Johnson reached on a passed ball after a strikeout and beat the throw to second on Duncan Mathews’ fielder’s choice before scoring two batters later on Brennan Holt’s grounder to first.

Chase Morgan, who pitched the final 3.0 innings to notch his first career save, would get Ismaili to ground out to end the seventh before limiting the Jaguars to a pair of hits the rest of the way.

Langevin (6-1) claimed the win for Louisiana after allowing a pair of hits in 2.2 innings of relief and striking out four before the game was suspended. LaFleur went 3-for-5 to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns at the plate while Taylor and the bottom three hitters in the lineup – Lee Amedee, Torres and Broussard – had two hits each.

SOUTH ALABAMA 10, LOUISIANA 0 (7 innings)

Shineflew (3-0) allowed a pair of first-inning singles to LaFleur and DeBarge before fanning eight straight batters over the next 2.2 innings. The left-hander allowed two base runners in his 6.0-inning outing, walking Taylor in the fourth inning before giving up a two-out single to DeBarge in the sixth.

South Alabama took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as JG Bell’s two-out single through the right side off Louisiana starter Jack Martinez (4-3) scored Holt, who earlier reached on a walk.

Sullivan, who returned the Jaguar lineup earlier in the week, led off the fourth with a solo home run before capping a six-run inning in the fifth with a grand slam off reliever Blake Marshall and an 8-0 advantage. The Jaguars added two more runs in the seventh on Johnson’s two-out single to center.

Martinez scattered a pair of hits and struck out three for Louisiana, which issued eight walks in the contest with a pair of errors.

Tickets for Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball are available for purchase on-line at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685).

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