HATTIESBURG, Miss. (Press Release) – Louisiana was three outs away from claiming an impressive midweek road victory on Thursday night, but Southern Miss had other plans as the Golden Eagles plated four runs in the ninth inning to stun the Ragin’ Cajuns, 7-6, at Pete Taylor Park.
Despite the loss, Louisiana (20-24, 8-10) outhit Southern Miss, 13-10, the 13th time this year that the Ragin’ Cajuns notched a double-digit hit total.
Senior Hunter Kasuls put together his fifth three-hit game of the season, including his team-leading third triple of the year, and scored two runs, while Hayden Cantrelle, O’Neal Lochridge and Jordan Wiley added two hits each.
Handsome Monica blasted his 11th home run of the season in the second inning, the first Ragin’ Cajun to produce double-digit homers since Steven Sensley hit 11 in 2017. Monica finished the game with a run scored and two RBI.
Seven different pitchers saw time on the mound for the Ragin’ Cajuns, which allowed seven runs on 10 hits. Jacob Schultz (1-2) took the loss after allowing four of those runs on three hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Louisiana got off to a great start after Monica’s two-run blast highlighted a three-run second inning for the Ragin’ Cajuns. That lead was quickly erased over the next two frames as the Golden Eagles scored once with the bases loaded in the second and tied the game at 3-3 in the third with a two-run shot of their own.
After the Ragin’ Cajuns took a 4-3 lead in the sixth via a sacrifice bunt, the team added two more runs to go ahead 6-3 in the seventh courtesy of an RBI triple off the bat of Cantrelle and an RBI single from Orynn Veillon.
Southern Miss (25-13, 14-4) answered with a four spot in the bottom of the ninth, including the game-clinching double from Cole Donaldson, to steal the 7-6 victory.
