April 3, 2004

MT Media Relations

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Kevin Preau had three hits and two RBIs and Phillip Hawke added a home run and three RBIs, as Louisiana-Lafayette broke open a tie game with three runs in the third and added four more runs late en route to a 9-3 victory over Middle Tennessee Saturday afternoon at Reese Smith Field.

The visiting Ragin' Cajuns (18-8, 4-1 SBC) take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-three, sending Middle Tennessee to its third straight Sun Belt Conference loss and eighth defeat in 10 outings. UL goes for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.

Middle Tennessee (16-11, 1-4) got a run in the bottom of the first when Eric McNamee led off with a single, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chuck Akers and scored on a single to rightcenter from Derek Phillips.

UL tied the contest in the second when Brad Saloom doubled with one out before Preau dumped a two-out single down the rightfield line, scoring Saloom.

The Blue Raiders retook the lead in their half of the second, with Jeff Beachum drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second. Josh Archer drove home Beachum with a single to left for a 2-1 Middle Tennessee lead.

The Cajuns tied the game again in the third after a leadoff walk to John Coker, a stolen base and a double down the rightfield line by Leonard Guerrero. UL loaded the bases later in the frame with a walk and a hit batter, but Blue Raider starter John Williams worked out of the jam with a flyout to center by Micah Cockrell.

But the visitors got to Williams in the fourth to take the lead, scoring three times on four hits.

Preau singled to leadoff and Ryan Core followed with a double. After a strikeout, Preau scored on Justin Merendino's groundout before a two-run shot deep over the wall in left by Guerrero, his first of the season, gave the Cajuns a 5-2 lead.

The Blue Raiders got a run back in their half of the fourth when Brett Carroll doubled to leadoff and scored on an infield single from Beachum, cutting the UL advantage to 5-3.

The Cajuns added to the lead with a pair of runs in the seventh, with Hawke hitting a solo homer and Preau driving in his second run of the game with a bloop single into rightcenter.

Hawke added a two-run double just inside the rightfield line in the eighth to give UL a 9-3 advantage.

Williams (4-2) lasted just four innings for the Blue Raiders, allowing five runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Cajuns starter Ian Pecoraro (1-1) went 7.1 innings before leaving the game with an injury. Pecoraro allowed three runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

Middle Tennessee embarks on a four-game road swing starting Wednesday with a 6:30 p.m. tilt against former OVC foe Austin Peay.

I was really happy to see that Ian got the start. Ive been impressed with him ever since his first appearance vs Siena, atleast the first appearance I saw. He pitches hard and can give us alot of good innings. The last game he got victimized by our own defense. Im becoming more and more impressed with this years cajun squad, were gonna make some noise.

Tuffguy

Agreed Tuffguy, we just needed a few games under our belt to get them going together as a team. Now it looks like they can play some great ball and will do some damage later on.