Late Trojan Rally Falls Short Against Louisiana

Friday, May 21

Lafayette, La.

6 p.m.

Troy University

27-23, 13-10

Louisiana

29-22, 12-11

Troy

Louisiana

Late Trojan Rally Falls Short Against Louisiana

5/21/2021 9:51:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

LAFAYETTE, La. – Troy's eighth-inning rally wasn't enough as the pitchers showed their prowess in a tight game Friday night at Russo Park. The Trojans plated two runs in the eighth to cut the Louisiana lead to one, but ultimately fell to the Ragin' Cajuns, 3-2.

Clay Stearns sent a solo shot over the right field wall to begin the comeback effort, followed by back-to-back doubles from Drew Frederic and Logan Cerny to cross another run. Troy (27-23, 13-10 SBC) would place a runner on base in the ninth on a Jesse Hall single but couldn't muster the tying run.

Frederic's crucial two-bagger was the 57^th of his career and broke the program's all-time doubles record.

It was a pitcher's duel early on as both starters posted four consecutive frames to open the game. Louisiana (29-22, 12-11 SBC) got on the board first, however, with a three-run fifth inning.

Cajuns' starter Connor Cooke (7-3) took a perfect game into the sixth inning before Stearns drew a walk to become Troy's first base runner of the contest. Cooke maintained a no-hitter into the seventh frame until Caleb Bartolero sent a single in the opposite direction to beat the shift.

Orlando Ortiz (6-5) recorded his fourth consecutive quality start, and sixth of the season, but was tagged with the loss. The righty struck out four batters in the outing and retired the first five batters he saw. Kyle Gamble looked strong in relief with a three-strikeout performance across two innings.

Troy trimmed the deficit to one in the eighth, but ultimately fell short of the win after a groundout ended the contest in the ninth.

Quotable – Head Coach Mark Smartt
"It was a great game tonight. Their starter, Cooke, was lights out but we fought like crazy in the game. Orlando pitched his tail off, struggled in one inning, but pitched well overall. We rallied in the eighth, but we just didn't do enough offensively to win, but that was more about what [Louisiana] was doing than what we weren't. It was one of the best games we've had pitched against us in quite some time."

Notable

Drew Frederic hit the 57^th double of his career break Jeff Javinett's (1992-95) all-time program doubles record.
Orlando Ortiz posted his fourth consecutive quality start and sixth of the season.
Clay Stearns' solo home run was his seventh home of the season.

Up Next
Troy and Louisiana square off in the series rubber match Saturday at 4 p.m.