Cajuns Rally to Defeat App State, 4-3

Gavin Bourgeois' two out single in the eighth inning capped a two run rally that lifted the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns to a 4-3 win over Appalachian State Friday at Smith Stadium in Boone, NC.

Colin Schmid (2-4) stymied the Cajuns over the first seven innings, holding them to just one earned run, but issued back to back walks to Jonathan Windham and Kole McKinnon with one out in the eighth..  A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third and Daniel Lahare drove in the first run on a ground ball to second.  Bourgeois then hit the first pitch thrown by reliever Luke Watts to drive in McKinnon with the game winner.

Colten Schmidt (4-0) allowed three first inning runs then slammed the door on the Mountaineers (8-24, 1-12 Sun Belt) the rest of the way, allowing only one Mountaineer to get as far as second base.  Nick Lee struck out the side in the ninth for his first career save.

Appalachian State took advantage of some uncharacteristic wildness by Schmidt to get on the board in the first inning.  A leadoff single by Alex Leshock got things started and Schmidt issued back to back walks with one out to load the bases.  Connor Leonard then hit a ground ball over the third base bag, clearing the bases and giving App a 3-0 lead.

The Cajuns (18-17, 6-7) started their comeback in the third when Windham singled with one out and McKinnon followed with a double.  Lahare than hit a grounder that was booted by shortstop Joel McDaniel as both runners scored.  But Schmid was stingy after that, allowing just a seventh inning single to Kennon Fontenot before the eighth inning rally.

Because of incoming bad weather on Sunday, the two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11:00 am.  Both games can be heard on KPEL 96.5 FM