Ragin' Cajuns defeat No. 2 seed Troy 12-8

The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team overcame an early 5-1 deficit as the team rallied for six runs in the second inning en route to a 12-8 win against second-seeded Troy in an elimination game Thursday afternoon at the 2015 Sun Belt Tournament.
“They jumped us early,” Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Tony Robicheaux said in a news release. “We tried to slow them down all we could, but they came out swinging. We went to the pen, and Greg (Milhorn) did an outstanding job. You bring in a pitcher to change the momentum of the game, and without Greg’s outing today, I don’t think we can come back. He got momentum, and then the hitters fed off him. He’s been battling back from a groin injury. Today he came out and pitched like a senior should.”
Milhorn was forced into action in the first inning and came on to limit the Trojans (30-25) to one run on one hit in 4.2 innings of relief to pick up his third win this year. The senior equaled a career–high with six strikeouts.
Junior right-hander Will Bacon registered his second save this season, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings to close out the contest. He had three strikeouts.
Starter Grant Bennett (9-4) took the loss for Troy, giving up 10 runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and four walks in 3.1 innings.
Louisiana-Lafayette posted double-digit hits for the second time in the tournament, outhitting the Trojans 13-9. The Ragin’ Cajuns were led by junior Kyle Clement, who was 3-for-4 with a double, drove in two and scored twice. Blake Trahan, Brenn Conrad, Stefan Trosclair and Tyler Girouard also had multi-hit efforts.
Shortstop Matt Sanders went 3-for-6 with a double and an RBI for the Trojans, while Logan Hill had two hits, including a home run and three RBIs.
The Cajuns grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Conrad scored on a double steal. Conrad reach on a fielder’s choice and then moved to third on a Clement single.
Troy answered with five runs in the bottom of the first for a 5-1 edge. Hill got the Trojans on the board with a three-run homer to right-center off Louisiana-Lafayette starter Wyatt Marks.
Later in the inning, second baseman Nick Masonia drove a two-run homer to left-center to give Troy a four-run lead.
Louisiana-Lafayette exploded for six runs on three hits and three walks in the top of the second to regain the lead at 7-5.
Greg Davis pulled the Cajuns within two runs as he drove a 2-2 pitch from Bennett over the fence in left-center for a two-run homer. The home run was Davis’ seventh this season.
Conrad made the score 5-4 as he doubled to deep center, scoring Trahan from second. Two batters later, Trosclair put the Ragin’ Cajuns back in front 7-5 on a three-run homer to left. The home run is Trosclair’s 14th this season and moves him one back of Georgia State’s Matt Rose for the conference lead.
The Cajuns added three more runs in the top of the fourth. Clement doubled home the first run, sending a ball off the wall in center field with one out.
In the next at bat, Trosclair doubled to left to score Clement to extend the advantage to 9-5.
Girouard capped the scoring in the inning as he singled down the left field line to plate Trosclair.
In the top of the sixth, Clement drove in his second run of the game, singling to left to score Conrad and put Louisiana in front 11-5.
Two batters later, Girouard increased the lead to seven runs with an RBI double to left.
Troy scored the final three runs of the contest with an RBI single by Cameron Sanders in the sixth, followed by a solo home run by Matt Sanders and a RBI double by Shaw Pinnell in the eighth.
With Thursday’s win, the Cajuns (35-21) will face University of Texas-Arlington today at 6:30 p.m. in an elimination contest. University of Texas-Arlington fell to Texas State 10-2 Thursday.
The contest will be aired on News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM. The game also will be broadcast on ESPN3.