Speaker 1: Ragion Cagen's Baseball picks up a run rule victory over
Marshall to advance in the Sunbelt Conference Tournament. Let's recap
it here on Raging Rundown. What's good, ladies and gentlemen,
and welcome to another episode of Rage and Rundown, the
show where you will know all things ul sports. I'm
your guy, JaMarcus Fitzpatrick, but you know you can always
call me fits. And on today's episode, we will be
recapping Louisiana Baseball's run rule victory over Marshall in the
Sunbelt Conference Tournament as they played in the single elimination
portion and now they are from here on out are
part of the double elimination part of the tournament. We'll
talk about how Noah Lewis shined in this matchup, and
then we will look ahead to the Cajuns rematch with
Coastal Carolina here in the Sunbelt Conference Tournament. Coming into
this one, Louisiana was thirty four and twenty one, and
a lot of projections D one Baseball Baseball America and
other ones that I've seen online actually had the Cajuns
in a regional I think I saw one.
Speaker 2: Of them in Auburn.
Speaker 1: Maybe another one was in Tallahassee, but they were in
last week. They were the last four teams out, so
they are right there on the bubble and they needed
to continue to win, not just to say that we
won the conference tournament, but to potentially still have that
opportunity to win or get that automatic at large Berth
Regional bid that you would want towards the latter part
of the postseason. And they were definitely able to do
that as they pick up the eleven to one run
roll victory over Marshall.
Speaker 2: When you look at the game.
Speaker 1: Flow of things, initially Louisiana came out and they suffered
an error.
Speaker 2: Marshall would.
Speaker 1: Cody Brash started on the bump, he would hit a
batter that got him on that eventually led to a
single and then a throwing era happens. The runner gets
all the way around and comes home. And mccaguns had
three errors in this game. But they were able to
out hit their mistakes, which is great, but in a
lot of instances or other instances, you're not always going
to be able to overcome that, and so they're going
to have to understand that they cannot make those type
of mistakes, because that can get you sent back home. Luckily,
they were able to overcome it in this game because
they had a little bit of a different mentality coming
into this one. Head coach Matt Diggs talked about that
before the game, how the team was coming into this
matchup against Marshall, and how he felt that they were
able to respond.
Speaker 2: He talked about it after the game.
Speaker 3: Just overall, it was a businesslike attitude by us. We
weren't thrilled to be in that playing game. It was
a nerve wracking last three days. I just wouldn't have
been able to live with myself if this team didn't
get to keep playing. I just love coaching them, they
love playing together, and so you know, we started off
gray in the top twenty five and then hit a
speed bump there for four weeks and then finished up
is in my mind, one of the better ball clubs.
And I just wasn't gonna be able to stomach it
if we didn't get that game today. And I didn't
say a whole lot before the game, and they were ready.
Just took care of business. Cody said a great tone,
and then Hitters went out and executed our approach from
jump Street just from the first batter on and we
competed real well at the dish today.
Speaker 1: So as you heard from head coach mad Diggs there,
the team was just out on.
Speaker 2: A different level.
Speaker 1: They knew that they shouldn't have or potentially didn't want
to be playing in his playing game, and they didn't
waste any time. So after the error happens that scores
a run by Marshall, Louisiana continues to apply pressure. They
scored three runs in the bottom of the first as
leading off Blaze Rodriguez. He was phenomenal from the leadoff position.
He was actually walked three times as well, but he singles.
Noah Lewis comes back, he singles, and then Leamede singles
as well. He gets on with this single that scores
Blads Rodriguez. Noah Lewis gets to third, and then Cole
Brown reaches on a throwing era that scores Noah Lewis.
Liamede gets the third. Drew Marco comes in and singles.
So now you're up three to one and you continue
to just steamroll all the way through. Then you come back,
you score three more there in the third, you score
three more in the fifth, and then two in the.
Speaker 2: Bottom of the seventh to get the run rule victory. There.
Speaker 1: In the third, Donovan Lasal got a single, and then
Steven Spalita got a single, and then after that Owen Galt,
who has stepped in for the injured Rigoberto Hernandez. They're
the second base position. He goes ahead and he hits
a deep one that bounced off the top of the wall,
maybe a couple more inches or feet, and it would
have been home run. It would have been the second
one of the day outside of Noah Lewis's. And then
right after that, Mark Collins, the Opolusis Catholic former star,
comes in and he doubles and that draws in both
Owen Galt and Steven Spalita as well. So you have
three runs that you scored there. So now you're up
six to one. You'll just continue to apply pressure in
a lot of instances to make it difficult for the
Thundering Herd. They threw out their best picture and Bryce
Blevins I believe was his name. They called his name
quite a bit. I'm trying to pull it up so
I can give him his credit, is what Bryce Blevins? Yes,
But he goes in and he gets stumped around. He
goes three innings, he gives up ten hits and six
earned runs. The Cajuns just continue to apply pressure and
it made it really hard for Marshall. But we had
talked about how the Thundering Herd had been kind of
struggling from a pitching standpoint here in the back half
of the season, and you were able to exploit some
of those things that they had been struggling with. And
like I mentioned, you just continue to apply a lot
of pressure. But I also have to give a lot
of credit to Noah Lewis. Really this freshman class as
a whole, We've talked about it multiple times on this show,
but you have to give credit to Noah Lewis. He
has continued to be consistent throughout the year. He is athletic,
he has great speed, he has great size, and when
he has the right approach behind the dish, he is
as elite as any player that we have seen in
the Vermilion in White. He goes four to five on
the day, he's three RBI and he hits a three
run jack. That's as phenomenal as you can get. He
set the table for you get in on base. He
scored runs for you, and he drove in runs as well.
Speaker 2: That is what you need.
Speaker 1: And then not to mention and he's a great defensive
weapon for you in center field, and he's just going
to continue to get better. The main thing is going
to be in the future being able to make sure
that you keep him in the Vermilion in white. The
supporting cast around him as well was really really good.
Mark Collins delivered quietly a three hit day and two
RBI blaze. Rodriguez continued to get on base four times,
the single and then being walked three times. Like we said,
Liamede was really good for you as well. And Cody
Brash set the table for you early. He didn't get
a lot of strikeouts, but he worked through traffic and
he was able to make sure that Marshall never really
had a chance. Once they scored that one run, he
slammed the door shut and made sure things were limited.
And after Cody Brash came out because he went five
and a third, Parker Smith comes in and goes one
and two third innings. He doesn't give up a hit,
doesn't give up an earned run, and only walks up batter.
He faced six batters and did it with twenty total pitches.
Cody Brash, then maybe the last time we see him
here in the conference tournament unless you get deep enough,
maybe towards the semi finals or even the championship game
where you maybe have to throw him out there as
he went eighty three total pitches, And that's exactly what
you needed with the type of performance he had. You
had a lot of success behind the dish, and then
you had a lot of success there on the bump
as well, and so that puts you in a position
now where you're gonna have to look ahead and you're
gonna have to play against Coastal Carolina once again. We're
gonna talk a little bit about what the Cajuns need
to do to make sure that they don't lose to
Coastal and that they can continue to play. We'll discuss
it all when we come back here on Rage and Rundown. Hey, guys,
thank you so much for tuning in to another episode
of Rage and Rundown and we're gonna get back into
the action in just the second. But before we do,
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UL athletics. So with the victory, the Cajuns will move
on to the next round in the Sunbelt Conference tournament
and they will take on Coastal Carolina as the two seed,
a team that they literally just played last week and
they won two of three against, to give them the
opportunity to beat in this position, to have a solid
RPI and to potentially be able to get in on
a deep postseason run if things continue to fall in
their favor. As I'm pulling up Warrennolan dot com and
looking at how the RPI rankings are falling, Louisiana did
receive a plus three bump at thirty seven in the
RPI rankings and Coastal Carolina is twenty four, So they
are both quad two teams. But if you get a
victory over them, I believe that she definitely get an
opportunity to get an at large bid. But you know
how my opinion is and where I stand on that.
I believe that you're gonna have to win the whole thing,
or that you should be focused on winning the whole thing,
so you don't leave any doubt, don't count what games
you need to do, how you strategize to make sure
that you make it happen, win it all, leave no doubt,
and you don't have to worry about whether or not
you don't have to sweat when it comes time for
the selection show. But just a few things that the
team needs to do. They have to play cleaner defense.
We talked about earlier the errors that they had in
this game. You have three errors against a really good
team and you're going home. Right Obviously you're the double
elimination portion. But in a perfect world, you've used Cody Brash,
your Friday Night Guy Wednesday, which will be tomorrow. You'll
probably see your Saturday guy and Andrew Herman, and then
after that you'll work your way through it and maybe
Ty Roman or you could be somebody else that you
believe can be more of a bullpen day for you.
And then if you get through that you get a
dead rest and you kind of start things over. But
you want to be able to play clean defense, because
that's what a good championship team does.
Speaker 2: They play great defense.
Speaker 1: They don't allow errors, they don't beat themselves mentally, and
all those things like that. So if that's the team
that you will wants to be going down the stretch
here in the postseason, they're gonna have to clean those
things up. They're gonna have to continue to be aggressive
early offensively. And I even asked coach Diggs did he
believe was that gonna be the formula that this team
needs to have, which is early offense and then getting
great pitching to be able to compliment that.
Speaker 2: And here was his answer that he gave me.
Speaker 3: We've been fortunate, blest to win some tournaments and regionals whatnot.
The team that hits this time of year holds a
definitive advantage, especially if you've got guys on the bump
that are gonna throw strikes. But to make your way
through any regional or tournament, most times, not every time,
but most times, you're gonna have to swing the bat.
And it usually is a team that gets the hottest
that comes out on top.
Speaker 2: So we'll see you heard him there, we'll see.
Speaker 1: But typically the team that gets the bats going early
are the ones that are able to keep playing. And
they're not going to win every game in a run
roll fashion. They're not going to score eleven runs on
fifteen hits in every single game. But again, if you
can win a game six to three, if you can
win it seven to two, if you can win it
five to one, all of those different things and factors
like that, where you're getting timely hits early and then
you're able to take pressure off of the guys in
the bullpen, that makes it a lot easier. Obviously, it's
easier said than done, and there are multiple ways to
be able to win games, but I do believe that
that is the formula that this team is going to
have to lean on in order to be able to
keep playing, not just in the Sunbelt Conference tournament, but
in the regional and if they keep going in the
Super Regional and so on and so forth, because that's
what great baseball teams are able to do. So they
have to continue to be aggressive offensively. From a pitching standpoint,
they can't give up freebiest. You can't make it easy
for them. Make them work to be able to score runs.
If they just beat you because they out hit you
and all those things like that, make them earn it,
make it any easier for them. Make sure that you
don't give it away for them. Make sure that they
earn it, and then just continue to win situational hitting moments.
If you got two guys on and scoring position, got
to find a way to drive him in. If you
have an opportunity to steal, and you know that you're
able to get from first to second, you got to
be able to get down safely.
Speaker 2: And in my opinion, I know Coach.
Speaker 1: Diggs is going to continue to work through the lineup,
but I feel like the position that Blaze, Rodrigaez and
Noah Lewis is in at the top of the lineup,
that is a spot that they should stay in because
not only are they being table setters, but then when
you get to the bottom of the lineup, where guys
may be normally not hitting as well there at the bottom,
but if they get on and they're able to be
in a position to be able to be on first,
be on second. Now you have a guy like a
Noah Lewis or a Blaze Rodriguez that can drive in
a run and can continue to create chaos and make
the innings more hectic for the opposing team's defense, and
that's essentially what you want to do. Trying to remember
who it was that was the nine hole hitter in
this game, so you had Mark Collins there and he
was coming back from injury, so he was able to
come out and.
Speaker 2: Score runs for you and play extremely well.
Speaker 1: So I'm not saying that this exact lineup could be
the recipe for success. Maybe it is, but Blaze, Rodriguez
and Noe Lewis definitely need to remain there near the
top to give you the best opportunity. So the Cajuns
get past Marshall and now they are set up for
a rematch against Coastal Carolina. That game will be on Wednesday,
made the twentieth, at twelve thirty pm. We'll be keeping
our eye on that one because it'll definitely be a
fun one. Like I said, I'm expecting to see Andrew
Herman being ran out for Louisiana. Not exactly sure what
Coastal Carolina may throw out, but it's a double elimination,
so there's no telling what we may see. I'm anticipating
for the Cajuns to see Andrew Herman coach Diggs very
well may surprise me. So credit to the Cajuns for
getting the job done, and a huge hat tip to
Noah Lewis for handling his business as such a young
player and just continuing to thrive in the position that
he is in. That's going to wrap up this episode
here on Rage and Rundown. If you've made it to
this point in the video, thank you so much. Please
do me a favor like it, share it, and leave
a comment down below, but most importantly, make sure you
subscribe to the channel. And also, while I'm asking, tell
me how far do you think the Cajuns can go?
Do they lose this game to Coastal and then bow
out gracefully in the double elimination round and the loser's bracket?
Or do they go all the way and win the
Sun Belt Conference Championship, get to a regional and shock
the world. I saw a simulation say that ul would
make it to the College World Series, So who knows.
Stranger things have happened, So let me know your thoughts
down in the comment. If you're listening, follow the podcast
feed rate the show and leave us a review, because
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raging Cajun fans. Just like yourself. I'm your guy, JaMarcus Fitzpatrick.
We'll see you guys next time.