UL Lafayette slips past LSU in 10 innings, 4-3

LAFAYETTE, La. – UL-Lafayette third baseman Jonathan Windham delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning Wednesday night to lift the Cajuns to a 4-3 win over No. 13 LSU at Moore Field.

LSU, which has won four of its last five games, dropped to 9-5 on the season, while ULL improved to 5-7.

LSU returns to action this weekend as the Tigers play host to Hawaii in a three-game series in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Game 1 of the series is set for 7 p.m. CT on Friday night, and it may be viewed on SEC Network + and heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network.

ULL reliever Logan Stoelke (1-0) picked up the win, despite blowing a save opportunity in the top of the ninth inning when pinch hitter Austin Bain delivered a two-out, two-run double to tie the game at 3-3.

Bain (1-1) remained in the game as the LSU pitcher and worked a scoreless ninth, but he was charged with the loss after allowing the winning run in the 10th. Bain worked 1.2 innings and allowed one run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

ULL starter Colten Schimdt pitched very effectively, limiting the Tigers to one run on five hits in eight innings with no walks and five strikeouts.

“For most of the game our pitchers were awesome,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Their kid (Schmidt) was, too, and it just wasn’t a night conducive for offense; the ball wasn’t carrying at all in the cool weather. It didn’t surprise me that there wasn’t a lot of offense tonight.

“We didn’t play our best defensive game, and that’s something we’ve got to work on, and it’s my responsibility to build our guys’ confidence on defense. There were a lot of little things defensively that put stress on our pitching staff, and there were missed opportunities on offense.

ULL rightfielder Daniel Lahare led off the 10th inning with a single, and he was sacrificed to second base by rightfielder Zach LaFleur. Second baseman Hunter Kasuls was intentionally walked, and Bain struck out designated hitter Monroe Moll, but Windham hit the first pitch from Bain into center field to end the game.

LSU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when rightfielder Antoine Duplantis doubled with two outs and scored on leftfielder Beau Jordan’s single.

UL-Lafayette threatened in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with nobody out, but LSU starter AJ Labas fanned the next three Cajun hitters to end the inning.

Labas and relievers Devin Fontenot and Taylor Petersen combined to blank the Cajuns through seven innings, and LSU held a 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the eighth.

The Cajuns, however, struck for three runs in the eighth against LSU reliever Nick Bush, giving UL-Lafayette a 3-1 advantage. A two-run bunt single by Kasuls and an RBI single by Hayden Cantrelle highlighted the ULL rally.

“We’re getting better as a team,” Mainieri said, “but we’ve still got a long way to go. We have to learn how to win these kinds of games. We’re going to play a lot of close games in a lot of tough environments, and we’ve got to find a way to win them.”