LAFAYETTE, La. ? The University of New Orleans baseball team saw its chances of a Sun Belt Conference regular season championship disappear on Friday, as light-hitting Louisiana-Lafayette exploded for a six-run fourth inning in an 11-8 victory at “Tigue” Moore Field.
Matt Goulas, who entered the weekend with just three home runs on the year, hit two shots ?- including a grand slam in the deciding fourth -- as ULL (27-27, 15-14 Sun Belt) handed Louisiana-Monroe its first SBC regular season crown.
Goulas had a career-high seven RBIs, and the 7-8-9 hitters in the Ragin' Cajun order combined to go 7-for-11 with seven runs scored. The Cajuns, who entered the weekend last in the Sun Belt with a .240 average, got 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings off UNO starter Justin Garcia (6-1).
The senior right-hander gave up 10 runs in his shortest outing of the year.
“We just couldn't get the guys in the bottom of their order out,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter. “They didn't really hit the ball that hard, and it seemed like we got two strikes on them almost every time. But we didn't make the right pitches at the right time, and they did what they were supposed to do.”
Jeff Lanning went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs for the Privateers (38-16, 18-10). Joey Butler added two hits, including a solo home run.
UNO, which has lost three straight after winning 13 in a row, had won a school-record seven straight Sun Belt series entering the weekend. The Privateers are now guaranteed the No. 2 seed in next week's Sun Belt Tournament.
“We've lost before, and it is definitely not time to panic,” Walter said. “We've lost three in a row before. We lost two in a row to these guys last year, and then we came back and beat them and went on to win the Sun Belt Tournament.
“We've got our ace on the mound tomorrow, and we'll need to get some momentum going into next week.”
Things looked good for the Privateers early, as the visitors jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
UNO plated three runs in the second inning off ULL starter Michael Cook. Lanning got the scoring started with a two-run double before Mark McGonigle brought him home with an RBI single.
The Privateers added another run in the third on a run-scoring single from Nick Schwaner. But then the Cajuns ? and particularly, Goulas -- took over.
ULL got on the board on an RBI double by Josh Logan, and Goulas tied it at 4-4 with a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left-center field.
The Privateers answered with a three-run fourth to take a 7-4 lead, highlighted by a towering solo home run from Lanning and an RBI single from Johnny Giavotella.
But five straight hits to start the bottom of the frame cut the lead to 7-6. And after Garcia finally got Brian Bowman to strike out with the bases loaded, Goulas cleared them with his first career grand slam.
ULL reliever Buddy Glass (4-3) got the win despite giving up three runs in four innings. Danny Farquhar worked two scoreless innings to pick up his first save of the year.
“Lafayette's had their struggles this year, but you can't fall behind those guys,” Walter said. “Farquhar and (Justin) Robichaux are outstanding, and it's awfully tough to get runs off of them.”
The two teams will wrap up the series at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday.
