Preview: Ragin’ Cajuns open NCAA Regional play Friday versus Horned Frogs

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball team makes its 17th appearance in the NCAA postseason on Friday when it faces No. 22-ranked TCU in the nightcap of the opening day of the NCAA College Station Regional at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:06 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Dave Neal (pxp) and Todd Walker (analyst) providing the commentary. The game can also listen to the call of the game from Jay Walker (pxp) and Brad Topham (analyst) on KPEL-FM (96.5), the Varsity Network and the #GeauxCajuns app.

Louisiana (36-21), the Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion, returns to the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2016 when it hosted the Lafayette Regional at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park. The Ragin’ Cajuns make their second all-time trip to College Station in postseason play after getting to the championship game in 2007.

All-American candidate Carson Roccaforte, one of 11 players from the state of Texas on the roster, leads Louisiana in average (.379), home runs (16) and RBI (68).

Heath Hood (.341-4-34), Tyler Robertson (.322-5-33), Connor Kimple (.319-9-36) and Julian Brock (.307-6-33) are next in the lineup for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Kyle DeBarge (.292-3-30) and Max Marusak (.256-2-23, 21 stolen bases) following.

TCU (36-20), the Big 12 Conference regular-season champion, is led at the plate by Tommy Sacco (.350-12-51) and Brayden Taylor (.314-10-44). Elijah Nunez (.297-1-28, 30-32 stolen bases) and Kurtis Byrnes (.287-4-40) are part of a Horned Frogs offense which is hitting .272 as a team.

The winner of Friday’s contest will meet the winner of the Texas A&M-Oral Roberts matchup, on Saturday at 6 p.m. The losers will meet in an elimination game on Saturday at noon.

GAME 58 PREVIEW
Louisiana (36-21) vs. No. 22 TCU (36-20)

DATES/TIMES (time is subject to change)
June 3, 2022 – 7 p.m.

LOCATION/SITE
Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park (6,100) | College Station, Texas

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Louisiana – LH Brandon Talley (3-3, 3.64 ERA)
TCU – RH Riley Cornelio (4-4, 4.41 ERA)

RANKINGS
Louisiana – Unranked
TCU – No. 22 D1Baseball; No. 12 – Collegiate Baseball; No. 15 Baseball America; No. 22 NCBWA; No. 23 USA Today

RADIO/TV/LIVE STATISTICS
Radio – KPEL-FM (96.5)
Talent – Jay Walker (pxp), Brad Topham (analyst)

Streaming – ESPN+
Talent – Dave Neal (pxp); Todd Walker (analyst)
Live Stats – CajunStats.com

SERIES RECORD
Tied, 4-4

LEADING OFF
• Louisiana makes its 17th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships when it opens play on Friday against Big 12 regular-season champion TCU in the NCAA College Station Regional.
• The appearance is the first for the Ragin’ Cajuns under third-year head coach Matt Deggs and the first since hosting the NCAA Lafayette Regional in 2016.
• Louisiana makes its second appearance in the postseason in College Station, going 2-2 overall in 2007 with opening wins over Ohio State and host Texas A&M before falling twice to the Aggies and missing an opportunity to reach the Super Regional.
• Head coach Matt Deggs, a native of Texas City, was an assistant coach at Texas A&M from 2006-10 under former coach Rob Childress.
• Eleven of Louisiana’s 28 players are from the state of Texas.
• Louisiana enters the NCAA Regionals as the SBC leader in earned run average (4.18), stolen bases (133), stolen bases per game (2.33), triples (27), triples per game (0.47) and WHIP (1.37).
• Louisiana has won its last six games which were decided by one run, including wins over the top two seeds (Texas State and Georgia Southern) to claim the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship.
• Louisiana’s 7-6 win over Georgia Southern in the SBC Championship game was its first in 19 games this season when trailing after eight innings.
• Louisiana pitcher Tommy Ray is the younger brother of former TCU hurler Johnny Ray, now a member of the Chicago White Sox organization.
• Senior right-hander Jacob Schultz was the first Ragin’ Cajuns pitcher to earn Most Outstanding Player honors at the Sun Belt Conference Championships since B.J. Ryan in 1998.
• Louisiana is 27-11 overall since being on the wrong end of a three-game sweep at SBC rival Troy on March 18-20.
• Louisiana’s Julian Brock has started 50 of the last 51 games behind the plate, having his string of 47 consecutive starts snapped on May 21 in the regular-season finale against Little Rock.

VERSUS THE FIELD IN COLLEGE STATION
Louisiana has played each of the other schools competing in this week’s NCAA College Station Regional – the last coming in the 2021 season with a three-game series against TCU at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.

Below are the all-time records against Oral Roberts, TCU and Texas A&M (last time played in parentheses).
Oral Roberts – 3-6 (2008)
TCU – 4-4 (2021)
Texas A&M – 9-13 (2007)

LONE STAR RAGIN’ CAJUNS
A strong presence of players from the state of Texas dot the roster for Louisiana with a team-high 11 players on the current roster hailing from the Lone Star State.

Below is the list of current Ragin’ Cajuns players coming from west of the Sabine River.

Name (Pos) – Hometown
Julian Brock (C) – Fulshear
Peyton Havard (RHP) – Bridge City
Conor Higgs (OF) – Texas City
Heath Hood (OF) – White Oak
Bobby Lada (2B) – Houston
Max Marusak (OF) – Amarillo
Cooper Rawls (RHP) – Kilgore
Carson Roccaforte (1B/OF) – Port Neches
Brandon Talley (LHP) – Princeton
Dylan Theut (LHP) – Fulshear
Jeff Wilson (RHP) – Plano