Wright State struck early with 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning, as Louisiana wasn't able to overcome it in their home opener on Friday night at M.L. Tigue Moore Field at Russo Park.

"We're not a high octane hitting team," said Ragin' Cajun coach Tony Robichaux after the loss. "We have to keep the score down."

Two of the four runs in the 1st were unearned, as an early error by third baseman O'Neal Lochridge and timely hitting by Wright State off starter Jack Burk put the Cajuns behind the 8 ball early.

The Raiders would add another run in the top of the 3rd, extending their lead to 5-0 before Louisiana earned their first hit on the game when Kennon Fontenot ripped a single to shallow center field in the bottom of 3rd.

The Cajuns would score 2 runs that inning, but couldn't produce consistent offense beyond that off right hander Ryan Weiss.

"We hit a lot of balls hard tonight," said Robichaux. "I thought we did a good job of swinging the ball. We looked a lot looser than we did (last week)."

The Cajuns drove the ball well of the bats, hitting 5 deep pop ups close to the wall, but couldn't clear it for a potential momentum swinging hit.

The Raiders added 3 more runs in the 8th inning on 2 hits and 4 walks. They outhit the Cajuns 7-4 on the night.

"We let the game get away in that last 3 run inning," noted Robichaux. "We can't have that. We walked in runs."

Sophomore Jack Burk was tabbed with the loss (0-2), while Ryan Weiss earned the win (1-0).

A crowd of 5,196 were on hand at the newly renovated Russo Park, the sixth biggest crowd in program history.

With the loss, Louisiana falls to 1-4 on the year. They'll look to bounce back tomorrow in game 2 of the 3 game weekend series, starting RHP junior Nick Lee. Wright State will counter with junior left-hander Zane Collins.

"Nick's gonna come out tomorrow, hopefully get us off to a good start," said Robichaux. "Now, we've got to keep the bats going and keep the score down."

First pitch is set for 2:00, with pregame beginning at 1:30 on NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL.

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