— By David Walsh
Louisiana didn’t play Marshall during the regular season.
The Ragin’ Cajuns got their first look at the Thundering Herd and left-hander Bryce Blevins in the first elimination game Tuesday at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at DABOS Park in Montgomery, Ala. The same held true for the Herd, which saw Cody Brasch, the ERA leader in the league.
Louisiana got the best of the all matchups in this initial meeting. The Ragin’ Cajuns piled up 15 hits for 11 runs to support Brasch, while the Herd had just three hits, falling 11-1 in a season-ending loss.
“Today we obviously weren’t good enough,” Herd coach Greg Beals said. “Louisiana played a really good game. They had a good plan. They deserved to win today.”
The result sends No. 7 seed Louisiana (35-21) into the quarterfinal round Wednesday against No. 2 seed and defending league champ Coastal Carolina.
Brasch (5-2) came in with a 2.44 ERA and worked 5.1 innings in just his seventh start. He appeared 13 other times in relief.
Louisiana roughed up Blevins (8-5) for six runs on 10 hits in three innings. He recorded no strikeouts. Reliever Charlie Krebs gave up a three-run homer in the fifth of the bat of Noah Lewis. The Ragin’ Cajuns also scored three in the third. The final run came in the seventh when Colt Brown singled to right for the game-ending RBI. He was the only batter Herd reliever Davis Gunn faced.
Marshall’s run came in the first on a single by Jackson Halter who brought home Tyler Kamerer. He had been hit a pitch, ane after a Marshall challenge, got the call reversed. On the field, the ump ruled he had not been hit. It was all Regin’ Cajuns after that.
Louisiana collected four hits in its first at bat and scored three times. In the third, Owen Galt had an RBI single and Mark Collins ripped a two-run double to left to finish Blevins.
“It’s unfortunate for Bryce today,” Beals said. “No question he was going to get the ball today. He had pitched a lot of innings. He was coming in on short rest and knew it would be a challenge. He was not his normal self today.”
Louisiana made it 9-1 in the fifth on a three-run homer by Lewis and scored two in the seventh to end it.
Lewis, with a .298 batting average coming in, totaled three hits on a 4-for-5 afternoon. Collins went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Lee Amedee also had two hits and two RBI.
In addition to Halter’s single, Mason Onate and Cleary Simpson had the other two. The Herd finishes 23-32.
Blevins and Halter, a pair of seniors, believe better times ahead despite what happened Tuesday.
“Leave it better than the way you found it,” Halter said. “I worked to get better every single day. We all did.”
“This is a special place,” Blevins said. “The Marshall community, the fans. To play and have family an hour away is a special thing. Not many people have that.”
Beals will miss the two and their significant contributions.
“They’ve meant a lot to us and the program,” Beals said. “They’re unbelievable competitors.”