Giving up 11 hits, walking seven batters and hitting three others was not a winning formula for the UL Ragin’ Cajuns in a 9-7 setback to Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday at Russo Park.
"We just seem to find a way to give people stuff," UL coach Matt Deggs said. "Super frustrating."
The loss dropped UL to 16-19 overall while the visiting Vaqueros improved to 22-10. The Cajuns next will play at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Louisiana Tech in Ruston.
UL is now 2-4 against the surging Southland Conference this season.
"We've got to figure it out," Deggs said. "You don't have a choice. It's sink or swim. You don't have a choice."
A positive for the Cajuns on Tuesday night was the return of senior left-handed reliever Dylan Theut to the mound for the first time since March 11. He allowed no runs on two hits, two walks and struck out four in two innings.
"Yeah, he wasn't bad," Deggs said of Theut. "Back from injury, though, so he's got 50 pitches on him. We wanted to have a little something for the weekend."
The Vaqueros made life very difficult on UL starter Blake McGehee from the first pitch when Isaac Lopez smashed it to left field for a solo homer.
"McGehee was able to settle down a little bit," Deggs said. "We've got to reinvent him while he's out there. He couldn't hit a spot early, and they're kind of hitting that thing all over the place. He settles in a little bit."
That sparked a three-run first inning, which also included Steven Lancia’s run-scoring double and an RBI groundout from Thomas Williams.
After a bases-loaded walk made it 4-1 in the second, Williams led off the third with a homer for a 5-1 edge.
In the bottom of the third inning, UL scored the most runs it has scored in an inning since seven against Troy on March 16. On Tuesday, the Cajuns posted five runs.
The Cajuns got five singles, including run-scoring hits from Lee Amedee and Maddox Mandino, as well as bases-loaded walks from Carson Hepworth and Jose Torres, who started the productive frame with a bunt single out of the nine-hole. The Cajuns led 6-5 after three innings.
After a UL throwing error tied the game at 6-6 in the fifth, Conor Higgs doubled after a Torres single and Casey Artigues sacrifice bunt for a 7-6 Cajuns' lead in the sixth.
Texas-Rio Grande Valley took the lead for good in the seventh with two runs off of reliever Wil Taylor, thanks to two UL errors, two walks and a hit batsman.
"They score three without a ball leaving the infield," Deggs said. "It's just not good, not good, period."
The two teams combined to throw 358 pitches in the game.
Riley Marcotte pitched the final 2â…” innings for UL, allowing two hits, no walks and three strikeouts.
"He did fine to finish, but we've got a lot of growing up to do," Deggs said. "We've got a lot of toughening up to do."
