News

Jul 13, 2023

Louisiana baseball falls to Southern Miss in high

The fifth lead change of the game was the deciding one. Bad for Louisiana baseball as it was on the other end of it as Southern Miss took a 10-9 lead in the bottom off the eight off an RBI single from

The fifth lead change of the game was the deciding one.

Bad for Louisiana baseball as it was on the other end of it as Southern Miss took a 10-9 lead in the bottom off the eight off an RBI single from Chris Sargent. Reece Ewing tacked on a security run to bury the Ragin' Cajuns, 11-9, to take the series.

Junior closer Justin Storm closed the door for USM in the ninth.

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UL (36-20, 18-12) struck first, scoring four in the first inning, but regular-season Sun Belt Conference champion USM responded with a grand slam from Danny Lynch to tie things up.

Lynch accomplished something few have in baseball history.

The Southern Miss senior hit two grand slams off the Ragin' Cajuns, tying the game the game in the first and giving the lead to the Golden Eagles at 9-8 with his drive in the fifth frame.

Hours after exploding for a 10 piece, UL's offense seemed to have found another gear Saturday afternoon.

Production came from up and down the lineup, with seven different players recording at least one hit, led by leadoff Max Marusak's three hits He finished a triple shy of a cycle, along with a run.

Kyle DeBarge, Conor Higgs and Heath Hood each had two RBIs.

The Cajuns are in a good spot offensively entering the Sun Belt Conference Tournament next week.

UL coach Matt Deggs wasn't going to give too long of a leash to any pitchers with the conference tournament seeding on the line.

Starting David Christie lasted just 2⅓ innings, giving up the grand slam and another run with three walks. The game then proceeded to sink into craziness as no Cajun reliever pitched more than two frames.

As weird as it sounds, the bullpen didn't perform poorly in giving up six runs through the final 6⅓ innings. Cooper Rawls, who eventually took the loss, struck out a couple before giving up the go-ahead runs.

They needed some help but there was a shot that the Cajuns can take the No. 3 seed for the league tournament in Montgomery next week.

Troy, which held the tiebreak over Louisiana due to winning the regular-season series, would have had to lose its finale to Appalachian State but UL's loss to USM nullified that scenario.

With Texas State's sweep over Louisiana-Monroe to close the season, it finished the No. 5 seed for the SBC tourney.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at [email protected].