Ragin’ Cajuns baseball begins seasons preps

With the start of the spring semester brings the first day of preparation as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team met for the first time since the break to get ready for the upcoming 2014 season.
“We are eager to get everyone up and going,” head coach Tony Robichaux said in a news release. “We need to get our hitters seeing the ball again, and our pitchers need to get some work in. We are challenged by the fact that we have a 30-day break between the fall and spring. It’s important what our guys do during that break, and they all left here with a plan.
“All of our guys looked good last night at the team meeting, so today we will get out on the field and work our way back to where we can start intrasquading and be ready,” Robichaux said. “A baseball season isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
Berwick High School alum Chris Charpentier is a freshman on this year’s team and is a right-handed pitcher.
The team will hold individual workouts until Jan. 24 when the Cajuns hold their first full-squad practice at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field. Practices are open to the public and are slated to begin at 2 p.m. each day.
“The biggest concern for us right now is to stay healthy as we work towards getting prepared for the start of the season,” Robichaux added. “In the fall you have four or five months to get healed up and ready, but with the start of the season being a month away, we don’t have that luxury.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns will look to improve upon a 43-20 season and a NCAA regional appearance in 2013. The team returns 21 players from a year ago, including eight of the nine position players who were regulars in the lineup and all three starters from the weekend rotation.
Louisiana-Lafayette opens the 2014 campaign Feb. 14 with four games against non-conference opponent Eastern Illinois.