LAFAYETTE – Luke Yuhasz belted a pair of opposite-field home runs while Trey LaFleur had three hits, including a solo home run, to lead No. 19-ranked Louisiana to an 11-2 win over Prairie View on Tuesday at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.
Caleb Stelly drove in three runs while Maddox Mandino had two hits as Louisiana (25-8) extended the nation’s longest win streak to 16 games. Blake McGehee pitched 4.0 solid innings with a career-high five strikeouts for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Murphy Brooks, Steven Cash and Brendan Moody following.
Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after LaFleur doubled to right field, stole third and scored when Jose Torres reached on a Prairie View error.
The Ragin’ Cajuns would bat around in the third inning after three straight hits off Panthers’ starter Corey Battey (1-2) before Stelly greeted reliever Elijah Breeden with a two-run double down the left-field line. Two batters later, LaFleur blooped an opposite-field single to left to drive in Kyle DeBarge and Stelly for a 5-0 lead.
LaFleur added his fifth home run of the season when he hit a two-out blast to right for a 6-0 lead before Prairie View (14-20) scored a pair of runs in the sixth.
Yuhasz, who finished 2-for-2 with four RBI, came on as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and drilled a pitch by Breeden to right field for a 7-2 lead before capping off the scoring for Louisiana in the eighth with a three-run blast off Camden Farmer.
Cash (3-0) earned the victory for Louisiana after pitching 2.0 hitless innings. Moody pitched the final 1.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts for the Ragin’ Cajuns while Brooks fanned two in 1.2 innings of work.
Battey took the loss for Prairie View after giving up four runs on four hits in 2.0 innings. Breeden pitched 4.0 innings for the Panthers and scattered five hits and allowed three runs. Michael Burroughs and Tyran Norris each drove in runs for Prairie View, which finished with six hits.
Louisiana will continue its five-game week on Wednesday when it plays host to in-state rival Louisiana Tech at 6 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.
Blake Marshall (0-0, 2.19) will make his second start of the season for Louisiana.
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