If you're going to open before a crowd of 4,473, might as well give them some free baseball, right?

Derek Herrington raced home on a wild pitch with one out in the bottom of the tenth inning as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns opened the 2016 season with a 2-1 win over Sam Houston State at M. L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

Kyle Clement started the winning rally with a base hit off losing pitcher Miles Manning.  Herrington then bunted for a base hit and the runners advanced when Manning threw the ball into right field to put runners on second and third.  Pinch Hitter Dylon Poncho was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Another pinch hitter, freshman Johnny Rizer, grounded to second with Clement being forced at home.  But on the second pitch to catcher Nick Thurman, Herrington raced home with the winning run.

"Not many horse races are won when the gates open, but it was nice to get out of the gate with a win," head coach Tony Robichaux said.  "Credit to Matt (SHSU head coach Deggs).  He had his team ready."

Dylan Moore (1-0) pitched 2.2 innings to get the victory for the Cajuns, giving up just one walk, striking out three.  "He's a pre-season All-American for reason.  We were able to get the ball to him and he got it done,"  Robichaux said.

Louisiana's Gunner Leger and Sam Houston's Sam Boyd locked up in a good old fashioned pitchers' duel, as the Cajun lefty hurled six innings of one hit ball, striking out three.  Boyd, meanwhile, did not allow a base runner through six innings.

The Bearkats (0-1) got on the board in the seventh off reliever Will Bacon when Bryce Johnson led off with a single to right.  Andrew Fregia doubled to put runners at second and third with no outs.  Matt Broadbent then hit an RBI groundball to short, but Cajuns' shortstop Hunter Kasuls alertly threw to third to get Fregia.  Broadbent was then thrown out trying to steal to end the threat;

The Cajuns tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with one out when Brenn Conrad hammered a 1-0 pitch to right center for his first home run of the year to tie the game at one apiece.  That snapped a string of 17 straight retired by Boyd.

Sam Houston threatened in the eighth when pinch hitter Zach Smith doubled off Bacon.  Lance Miles grounded to first, sending Smith to third.  Moore then came in and got a strikeout and fly ball to end the threat.

Odom was lifted in the ninth after walking Nick Thurman.  Manning came on and after Joe Robbins sacrificed, Kasuls lined to center.  Conrad was walked intentionally and Miles got Stefan Trosclair on a fly ball to end the threat.

Odom allowed just two hits with a walk and eight strikeouts in his eight innings of work.

Each team managed just four hits in the contest.  Each team had one error.

"It looked like we were trying to do too much tonight," Robichaux said of his offense.  "Hopefully we'll come back tomorrow and relax a bit."

Wyatt Marks gets the start for the Cajuns tomorrow afternoon at 2pm.

 

 

 

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