Ragin’ Cajuns use 11 hits, eight steals to down Demons, 11-8

NATCHITOCHES – Carson Roccaforte and Kyle DeBarge each drove in three runs and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns collected season-highs with 11 hits and eight stolen bases in holding off Northwestern State in a wild midweek contest, 11-8, on Tuesday at Brown-Stroud Field.

Drew Shifflet (1-0) pitched three innings and fanned five in earning his first victory for Louisiana (4-4), which snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 2-0 in midweek games.

Louisiana opened with a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a pair of groundouts before Northwestern State (3-4) took a 4-2 lead in the bottom half of the frame on Bo Willis’ grand slam.

The Ragin’ Cajuns took the lead for good in the third as it scored four times as DeBarge’s sacrifice fly scored CJ Willis before RBI singles by Roccaforte, Connor Kimple and Heath Hood off NSU starter Chase Prestwich (0-1) gave Louisiana a 6-4 lead.

DeBarge added an RBI single in the fourth to drive in Warnner Rincones before Roccaforte – who tied his school-record with five stolen bases – reached on a infield single for an 8-4 advantage.

The Demons chipped away at the lead beginning in the seventh inning after putting runners on the corners and scoring on a balk. Willis then greeted reliever Jacob Schultz with his second home run of the game – a three-run blast – to cut the Ragin’ Cajuns lead to 9-8.

Louisiana put the game away in the ninth when Will Veillon reached on a one-out single, moved to third on a well-executed hit-and-run by DeBarge and scored on a Demon error – one of four on the night. After DeBarge moved to third, he would score on Roccaforte’s sacrifice fly to right.

Brandon Talley pitched two innings of one-hit relief for Louisiana with a pair of strikeouts before Bo Bonds and Schultz pitched the final three innings with Schultz earning his first save of the year.

Willis finished 2-for-6 with seven RBI for Northwestern State. Prestwich allowed six runs on six hits in 2.1 innings in his first career start for the Demons with four relievers combining to allow five hits the rest of the night.

The teams will meet again on Wednesday when the home-and-home series shifts to M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Fans can listen to the game in the Lafayette area on ESPN Lafayette (103.3 FM / 1420 AM) and at RaginCajuns.com.

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