Louisiana Overcomes Sluggish Start to Defeat Grambling, 12-4

John Taylor went 2-for-4, including a go-ahead double in the fourth inning, as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns overcame a slow start to claim a 12-4 win over in-state opponent Grambling on Tuesday at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.

Luke Yuhasz led a 14-hit attack going 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI while freshman Maddox Mandino added two hits as Louisiana (17-8) extended its win streak to eight games while snapping a six-game win streak for Grambling (8-14).

Looking to cap off a perfect six-game homestand, starter Blake McGehee and the Ragin’ Cajuns fell behind, 4-0, in the first inning behind a pair of hit batters, an error and RBIs by Ashton Inman and Julian Murphy. The Ragin’ Cajuns responded in the bottom half of the inning as Kyle DeBarge drove in Mandino with an RBI triple to right before scoring on Lee Amedee’s sacrifice fly.

“Four (runs) in the first was a gut punch and it was all self-induced,” head coach Matt Deggs said. “There was a little bit of adversity for us, which was kind of a good thing because we haven't had to go through it in the last few games.

“But I thought he settled in and got us into the fourth. It's just a matter of limiting the freebies. (Steven) Cash wiggled out of a jam, and that's another self-induced jam. We just got to do a better job of pitching with pace and intent and not giving them anything.”

McGehee, making his first start of the season, was solid after the initial inning allowing two base runners in his final 3.0 innings of work before giving way to Steven Cash (2-0).

Louisiana chipped away at the lead, scoring a run in the third on Duncan Pastore’s infield RBI single before taking the lead for good in the fourth.

Josh Alexander reached on a one-out double for Louisiana before stealing third and scoring on Yuhasz’s RBI single through the left side. After Yuhasz stole second, Taylor doubled to left off Grambling starter Carlos Peguero (1-5) to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 5-4 lead.

Grambling loaded the bases in the fifth off Cash with an infield single, walk and hit batter, but the left-hander fanned Murphy to end the threat.

Conor Higgs’ triple in the fifth opened a three-run rally for Louisiana as he drove in Amedee before scoring on Jose Torres’ squeeze bunt off GSU reliever Jeremiah Newman. Torres would reach on an error and score when Yuhasz singled through the left side for an 8-4 lead.

Amedee led off the seventh with a home run to right field for a 9-4 lead before Taylor, Mandino and pinch-hitter Connor Cuff each drove in runs in the eighth on base hits.

Blake Marshall pitched the final 4.0 innings for Louisiana to earn his first save of the year. The senior left-hander allowed one hit and struck out a career-best six batters.

louisianPeguero allowed five runs and struck out three in 4.0 innings of work for Grambling. Kyle Walker led GSU at the plate going 2-for-3 while Jaylyn Bennett added a double.

“Winning's hard at this level, that was our pre-game talk ... there's no layups, there's no gimmes,” Deggs said. “Grambling's got a good ballclub as evidenced by the way they're playing. They've won six in a row coming into tonight and they gave us everything we wanted.”

Louisiana will resume Sun Belt Conference play beginning on Thursday when it travels to San Marcos, Texas to face Texas State in a three-game series at Bobcat Ballpark. First pitch for Thursday’s contest is scheduled for 6 p.m.

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