MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Kyle DeBarge went 3-for-5 and capped a four-run, fifth-inning with an RBI double while Cooper Rawls and three relievers slowed down a potent Coastal Carolina offense to claim a 7-3 win in an elimination game of the 2023 Guardian Credit Sun Belt Conference Championships on Saturday at Riverwalk Stadium.
The win by Louisiana (39-21) forced an elimination game later Saturday evening with the winner advancing to Sunday’s championship game against either Southern Miss or Appalachian State.
Saturday’s elimination 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 trailed 3-0 after four innings as top-seeded and No. 7-ranked Coastal Carolina (39-18) scored a run in the first on Graham Brown’s solo home run before Blake Barthol laced a two-run double in the second.
The Ragin’ Cajuns recorded four straight hits in the fifth after John Taylor reached on a one-out fielder’s choice off Chanticleer starter Jack Billings. CJ Willis then hit a single through the right side for Louisiana before Will Veillon’s single up the middle scored Taylor and cut CCU’s lead to 3-1.
Max Marusak then greeted Chanticleer reliever Darin Horn (3-2) with a game-tying double into the left-field corner to score Veillon and Willis before DeBarge doubled into the right-field gap to give Louisiana its first lead of the game.
Three relievers – Steven Cash, Jerry Couch, and Blake Marshall – pitched 6.2 innings of shutout relief for Louisiana with Couch (2-1) earning the win tossing 1.1 innings and scattering a pair of hits.
Louisiana padded its lead in the eighth with three runs as Heath Hood and Taylor hit back-to-back doubles with two outs before Willis belted a towering two-run blast to right for his second home run of the season.
Marshall pitched the final 4.0 innings for Louisiana, allowing a pair of hits and striking out three to earn his fifth save of the season. Rawls fanned three batters and scattered five hits for the Ragin’ Cajuns before being relieved by Cash in the third.
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