With the loss to Tulane, the Ragin' Cajuns dropped to 1-5 away from M.L. Tigue Moore Field.

Two of those losses came on neutral ground in Houston, but the other three came against in-state opponents (Tulane, McNeese State, Louisiana Tech) that the Cajuns were favored against. A team that was picked to win the Sun Belt Conference and compete in a regional is struggling mightily to find ways to win away from home.

Tony Robichaux is a wise man. As the Head Coach of the Cajuns, he's seen a lot of baseball. In the college game, winning on the road (and in the midweek) separates the great teams from the pack.

"To be a champion, you have to be able to go out and win on the road," Robichaux said earlier this week in a press conference (video below). "I think the more we keep playing, the more we get out on the road, hopefully, we can continue to get more comfortable."

This weekend, the intensity rises. Sun Belt Conference play begins for the Cajuns in Troy, and they can't afford to bring their road blues with them to Alabama.

The main issue is on offense. In all three midweek losses, the Cajuns only scored two runs. They also left 25 runners on base in those three games combined. Against TCU, only two runs on the board as well. Errors played a part too, especially in the late collapse against Texas Tech in Houston. There are several guys in the lineup trying to adjust to Division I baseball, but they're not to blame for the poor play outside of Lafayette. The game of baseball is getting the better of the entire team right now.

It's gut check time. The expectations for this team were high, and the chair got yanked out from underneath them. Now they have a sore backside, but they have no choice but to pick themselves back off the ground and get back to fighting.

Perhaps Stefan Trosclair will break out of his early season slumber at the plate to lead the Cajuns through conference play. Steven Sensley's hamstring has held him back all season, but the Cajuns can't afford to wait to get his bat going or to get Kyle Clement back in the lineup. Whoever the name is, there needs to be a spark to get the fire going.

The loss of Clement in the heart of the lineup and the outfield threw a major monkey wrench into the works, but Coach Robe isn't going to let his players stand around and wait to be rescued. Injuries are issues, but you can't let them derail your season.

"It has created some issues, I'm not going to lie, but it is what it is and we have to move forward," Robichaux said.

They can start curing their ills away from home this weekend in Troy, and they'll have three more opportunities in a row in the midweek to get things going against in-state opponents (Northwestern, LSU, Nicholls St.). Being undefeated at home is comforting, but they can't take Lafayette with them.

 

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