Wilson, relievers strong on hill as Cajuns take rubber game over Warhawks

LAFAYETTE – Senior Jeff Wilson scattered seven hits and struck out five over six innings of work and Trey LaFleur went 2-for-4 in his first start of the season with a two-run home run as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball team earned a 7-1 win over ULM in the finale of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series on Saturday at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.

Max Marusak delivered a two-run double in the third inning while Tyler Robertson extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games as Louisiana (20-15, 9-6 SBC) won for the 11th time in its last 15 games. Carson Roccaforte, Kyle DeBarge and Jonathan Brandon each drove in runs as the Ragin’ Cajuns improved to 32-3 in the last 35 meetings against ULM (12-21-1, 5-9-1 SBC).

Wilson (3-1) posted his third quality start of the season as he was aided by a Ragin’ Cajuns defense that produced one double play, a diving grab in centerfield by Marusak to rob a potential extra-base hit and a pair of runners thrown out by catcher Julian Brock on attempted steals.

Robertson helped give Louisiana a 1-0 lead in the first inning after recording a single through the left side before stealing second and third before scoring on Roccaforte’s sacrifice fly to left.

LaFleur, an Ole Miss transfer who recovered from an injury to earn his first official at-bats during the first two games of the series, scored a pair of runs as Louisiana took a 3-0 lead. LaFleur led off the second with a single off ULM starter Lucas Wepf (1-3), moved to second on a balk, third on a wild pitch and scored ahead of Connor Kimple when Marusak hit a two-out, two-run double to center.

Louisiana scored two more runs in the third after Wepf retired a pair of batters around a walk to Roccaforte. LaFleur then connected for his first home run in a Ragin’ Cajuns uniform – a 427-foot blast to center – which gave Louisiana a 5-1 lead.

The Ragin’ Cajuns added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh as Robertson drew a one-out walk from ULM reliever Zach Shaw, moved to second on an error, third on a wild pitch and scored on DeBarge’s double into the left-field corner. After Roccaforte was hit by a pitch and DeBarge stole third, Brandon would reach safely on a squeeze bunt up the first-base line and give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 7-1 lead.

Chipper Menard and Jake Hammond combined to hold ULM scoreless over the final three innings. Menard worked out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the seventh after allowing singles to Trace Henry and Matthew Lew and a walk to leadoff hitter Mason Holt.

The southpaw fanned Ryan Cupit for the first out in the inning before getting Grant Schulz to hit a short pop-up to DeBarge in shallow left field. Henry, who avoided the tag of Brock at the plate, was called out on an appeal at third to end the inning.

Cupit and Lee led ULM with a pair of hits while Holt doubled and scored on Schulz’s RBI single in the third. Wepf allowed five runs on four hits in three innings before Mikal Howell pitched 3.0 innings of hitless relief with four strikeouts.

Louisiana will open a seven-game roadtrip on Tuesday (April 19) when it travels to Baton Rouge to face LSU in the Wally Pontiff, Jr. Foundation Classic at Alex Box Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+. The game can be heard in the Lafayette area on ESPN Lafayette (103.3 FM / 1420 AM), the Varsity Network app and the #GeauxCajuns app.