The Cajuns’ Offense Explodes to Eliminate Texas State and Advance to the Semifinals
The Ragin Cajuns won their opening matchup against Texas State on Wednesday night to advance to the winner's bracket. After a tough 3-6 loss to Coastal Carolina, the Cajuns will play Texas State for the 5th time this season. The Bobcats are coming off of a tough 10-9 14-inning elimination game against Georgia State. The Cajuns found themselves in a must-win situation with a shot at the semi-finals on the line, Let’s see how the game went down.
Zach Wood got the start on the mound for the Bobcats as he went for 3 1/3 innings pitched. He recorded 5 strikeouts, 2 walks, 4 hits, and 3 runs allowed.
For the Cajuns, It was David Christie on the mound as he would go for four innings pitched. He recorded 4 strikeouts, 3 walks, 7 hits, an 4 runs given up.
The Cajuns would get things start quickly as Max Marusak was first pitch swinging as he collected a leadoff double. Carson Roccaforte would bring him home with a sac fly to give the Cajuns a 1-0 lead to start the game. The Bobcats took no time at all to respond as Texas State collected two hits to get runners at first and second. Mora would deliver a two-out RBI double to tie things up at 1 apiece.
The Cajuns would get back to work in the third inning as Debarge would get the hitting started with a two-out double. The Cajuns then received back-to-back RBI doubles from Roccaforte and Higgs to make it a 3-1 ball game going into the bottom of the third. The Cajuns tried to break it open in the 4th as Max drove in another run with a sac fly and then Higgs comes up big with a two-out RBI double to put the Cajuns up 6-1 going to the bottom of the fourth.
The Bobcats were able to respond in the bottom of the 4th as they scratched one run across to make it a 6-2 ball game. The Cajuns responded once again as they have done all night as C.J. Willis collects a two-out RBI double to make it a 7-2 game. Texas State wasn’t finished as they began their half of the fifth with back-to-back doubles to make it a 7-3 ball game. They tacked on another run as a ground ball with the bases loaded was enough to make it a 7-4 game in the 5th.
These two teams continued to go back and forth and the Cajuns would respond with an RBI single from Connor Higgs to make it an 8-4 ball game. Texas State would respond as they did all night long with another run in the sixth to make it an 8-5 game. They continued to keep distance between them and the Bobcats as they added another run from a Debarge RBI single to make it 9-5. The pattern continued in the bottom of the 7th as Texas State was able to scratch across a run to make it a 9-6 ball game.
The nail in the coffin came from Carson Roccaforte in the top of the 9th inning as he came through with a bases-clearing double to make it a 12-6 game. Rocco was able to tie the school record with his 25th double of the season.
That was enough to secure the Cajuns' victory as they officially eliminated Texas State from the SBC tournament. With the win, the Cajuns advance to the semifinals. They will have to defeat Coastal Carolina twice tomorrow if they want to advance to Championship Sunday. The pitch is set for 12:30 PM!