Cajuns blank Rice to salvage series finale

Higgs, DeBarge homer as Louisiana salvages final game of series

LAFAYETTE – Carson Fluno and two relievers combined on a two-hit shutout while Conor Higgs and Kyle DeBarge each homered in leading Louisiana to a 3-0 victory over Rice in the final game of a three-game series on Sunday before an announced crowd of 3,736 at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.

Lee Amedee and Mason Zambo each recorded a pair of hits – their first of the season – while Andrew Herrmann and Matthew Holzhammer combined to fan six batters over the final 4.0 innings for Louisiana (4-3). Rice, which was shutout for the first time in the series since a 2-0 Louisiana victory on April 5, 2011, fell to 3-4 overall.

“Pitching and defense carried us and it’s always got to start with the guy on the bump,” Louisiana head coach Matt Deggs said. “We needed to get a really good start and we got that today, and we needed to play really good defense and we were able to defend it today.

“And that carries over into your offense and we were able to do enough to get us to the finish line. We’re still a work in progress, working to get better. Rice is much improved. They threw three quality arms at us (Parker Smith, Davion Hickson, J.D. McCracken). I thought we pitched it well all weekend and pitched it great today.”

Fluno (1-0) pitched 5.0 innings and struck out six batters while tossing a perfect game until Pierce Gallo’s leadoff single in the fifth. The right-hander set the tone early with 12 first-pitch strikes in facing 16 batters, one over the minimum.

Louisiana broke open a scoreless contest in the third inning as Zambo, who was 2-for-3, belted his first of two doubles in the game with a shot into the right-field corner off Rice starter Ryland Urbanczyk (0-1).

Two batters later, Zambo would give Louisiana a 1-0 lead when he scored on DeBarge’s grounder to second. Three pitches later, the Ragin’ Cajuns increased their lead to 2-0 as Higgs launched his first home run of the season – a 386-foot blast down the right-field line.

Rice had a chance to cut into the deficit in the seventh after Kyte McDonald hit a leadoff double off Herrmann and moved to third on a one-out wild pitch. But Herrmann, who fanned four batters in 2.0 innings, got Gallo looking at a called third strike before fanning Treyton Rank to end the threat.

DeBarge capped off the scoring for Louisiana after belting his first home run of the season – a 388-foot drive to left field – for a 3-0 lead.

Holzhammer pitched the final 2.0 innings and struck out a pair of batters to earn his first career save. John Taylor added a double for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who finished with seven hits with five going for extra bases.

Louisiana will close out its four-game homestand on Wednesday (February 28) when it hosts Northwestern State. Fans can listen to the game in the Lafayette area on KFTE-FM (105.1) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.

Tickets for Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball are available for purchase on-line at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685).