The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team is set to open a four-game road trip on Tuesday at 6 p.m. as the squad faces in-state foe Nicholls in a midweek contest at Ray E. Didier Field. The Cajuns will play 10 of it next 13 games away from M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.
The contest will be broadcast live on Cox Sports Television (CST), Cox channel 37 and LUS channel 35.
Louisiana (15-9, 6-3 Sun Belt) is coming off of it third sweep of the season defeating Georgia State in three straight games over the weekend. The Ragin’ Cajuns edged the Panthers in the series opener 4-2 before picking up 7-3 and 4-1 victories to complete the sweep.
Sophomore right-hander Evan Guillory will make the start for the Ragin’ Cajuns against the Colonels. Guillory is 1-3 on the year with a 3.91 ERA in five starts. All five of Guillory’s starts have come away from The Tigue as he has posted two quality starts in 2016.
Junior Joe Robbins had a pair of home runs over the weekend against Georgia State to increase his team-lead to seven for the season. Robbins is hitting .337 with 19 RBI and a .686 slugging percentage. 11 Cajuns have posted at least five RBI on the season with four players recording double-digit RBI through 24 games.
The Ragin’ Cajuns hold a 69-53-1 all-time series edge over Nicholls despite losing the last two meetings a year ago. Louisiana has posted a 28-27-1 record against the Colonels in Thibodaux.
Nicholls (10-14, 2-7 Southland) comes into the matching having lost five of its last six games including the last four after being swept at home by Sam Houston State this past weekend. The Colonels have won just one game away from Ray E. Didier Field in 2016, posting a 9-7 record at home this season.
Junior left-hander Mike Hanchar will make the start for Nicholls. Hanchar is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in nine appearances including three starts.
Offensively, the Colonels are averaging 5.2 runs per game hitting .278 with 32 doubles and seven triples. Nicholls has yet to record a home run this season, but the squad has tallied 37 stolen bases led by Ethan Valdez who is 10-of-14 in stolen base attempts.
Kyle Reese paces the Colonels at the plate hitting .403 with four doubles and a team-best 22 RBI. Reese is one of four Nicholls players batting over .300 on the season.
Following the matchup with the Colonels, the Cajuns will head to Jonesboro, Ark. to face Arkansas State in a three-game conference series starting Friday at 6 p.m.
