Cajuns Baseball Extends Win Streak to 10 with Win over Texas St.

(San Marcos, TX) - Jose Torres and Josh Alexander had three hits each to help fuel the bottom of the lineup while Louisiana extended its longest win streak since 2016 with a 16-5 Sun Belt Conference victory over Texas State on Friday at Bobcat Ballpark.

Duncan Pastore had two hits and drove in four runs from the No. 9 spot in the lineup as Louisiana (19-8, 7-1 SBC) won its 10th straight contest – its longest since winning 12 straight in 2016 and the longest current streak in the nation after Texas defeated No. 23-ranked Kansas State, 21-11.

The final game of the three-game series is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans able to listen to the game in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.

Louisiana built an 11-1 lead before Texas State (15-12, 4-4 SBC) scored two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to close to within 11-5.

“We just kept going, and in this ballpark that (ninth inning) was big after they (Texas State) started making a run,” head coach Matt Deggs said. “We were able to put the game away right there.

“We need to do a better job of pitching with a lead and just attacking them with the fastball.”

Luke Yuhasz opened the scoring for Louisiana with a solo homer in a three-run second inning before Pastore drove in two runs with a double to right. Maddox Mandino scored on a fielder’s choice in the third inning before Torres, who went 3-for-4, ripped a two-run double to left-center field to help Louisiana build a 6-0 lead.

Kyle DeBarge added an RBI double in the fourth to give Louisiana a 7-0 lead before Pastore scored on one of two Bobcat errors in the sixth.

Louisiana led 8-1 in the seventh when Alexander drove in Conor Higgs and Torres with a three-run blast to left-center field for an 11-1 lead before the Bobcats avoided the 10-run rule on Davis Powell’s two-run homer to left.

The Bobcats added two more runs in the eighth on Alec Patino’s opposite-field home run to cut the lead to 11-5 in the eighth before Louisiana put the game away with a five-run ninth.

Pastore, who went 2-for-4 at the plate, drove in Torres and Alexander with an RBI single to right before pinch-hitter Caleb Stelly belted a three-run homer to right.

Chase Morgan (2-1) kept Texas State in check for 5.0 innings, scattering a pair of hits and striking out three. Jack Martinez and David Christie combined to allow four hits over the final 4.0 innings with Christie fanning three in 2.2 innings of relief.

John Taylor went 2-for-6 to extend his hit streak to 15 games for Louisiana while DeBarge was 2-for-5. Aaron Lugo went 2-for-4 for Texas State while Sam Hall (1-2) suffered the loss after giving up six runs on four hits in 2.0 innings.

Tickets for Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball are available for purchase on-line at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685).

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