THE RUNDOWN
On a night made for baseball, No. 17 DBU's late-inning heroics fell just short, as the Patriots (9-4) fell to Louisiana (7-7) on Friday night in Lafayette. DBU pieced together a three-run, two-out rally in the ninth, but the Ragin' Cajuns matched those three runs to win in walk-off fashion.
 
The Patriot defense came up big in the early moments of Friday night's contest. Moments after Tom Poole made a highlight-reel diving snag at first base, Louisiana's Brooks Wright stood on second with two outs. First baseman Lee Amedee legged out an infield single hit to second baseman Chayton Krauss, beating the throw to Poole at first. Wright broke for home, but an observant Poole noticed the dashing Amedee, rifling a dart to catcher Grant Jay. Jay relayed the ball to Michael Dattalo at third to tag out Wright in the rundown and keep the game scoreless.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns manufactured the first run of the night in the second, using a walk, a stolen base, and a groundout to take a 1-0 lead. The Patriots answered in the next half-inning, utilizing some small ball of their own. Landon Underhill started the top of the third with a base hit, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cody Grebeck, took third on a pickoff miscue by Louisiana, and advanced the final 90 feet on Nathan Humphreys' RBI groundout to knot the score at 1-1.
 
Pitching stayed strong on both sides, keeping the scoreboard frozen through innings four and five. For Louisiana, Matthew Holzhammer and Andre Hermann held DBU to just one run through five innings, while DBU's ace Micah Bucknam delivered his first quality start of the season, tossing six innings of three-run baseball and striking out three.
 
In the visiting half of the sixth, facing Hermann for the second time, Chayton Krauss launched a fly ball over the left field fence for a solo home run and a 2-1 Patriot edge. DBU threatened for more, loading the bases later in the inning, but entered the seventh with the singular tally added to its score line.
 
Louisiana finally forced Bucknam off the mound after putting their first two hitters of the seventh on base. Mason Peters took and induced a sacrifice bunt before a groundout plated the tying run. With two outs, Sam Ardoin sent a grounder up the middle, scoring Conor Higgs from third and putting his team ahead 3-2.
 
The Patriots looked to turn the tide in the ninth. With two outs and no runners on base, Humphreys was down to his last strike but kept DBU alive with a clutch double to right-center field. After an intentional walk to Jay and a hit-by-pitch to Poole, Krauss stepped to the plate and ripped a two-RBI single to right field, shifting the lead back to DBU 4-3. With Krauss on first and Poole on third, a wild pitch allowed Poole to score, giving the Patriots a 5-3 cushion with three outs to secure the win.
 
Nick Bonn entered in relief to close the game, but two quick singles put DBU in trouble. An RBI fielder's choice brought the Ragin' Cajuns back within one of the Patriots, and a subsequent single put the tying run on third and the winning run on first. Louisiana's leadoff hitter, Luke Yuhasz, delivered the final blow with a double to right-center field to end the game with a final score of 6-5.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Friday night was the Patriots' second one-run loss of the season.
- Chayton Krauss led the Patriots on offense, going 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, including the go-ahead hit in the ninth.
- The Patriot defense did not commit an error for the third consecutive game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2 - Grant Jay was intentionally walked twice on Friday night.
3 - Chayton Krauss recorded three hits for the second consecutive game and extended his hitting streak to five.
13 - With his double in the ninth, Humphreys has now reached base in all 13 games to start the season.
 
UP NEXT
DBU and Louisiana will continue their series on Saturday with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m. With inclement weather in the forecast, stay updated on any schedule changes by following DBU Baseball on X. Read Full Article