Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns vs Southern Miss Golden Eagles - Sun Belt Conference Tournament Finals

As we moved into the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles came in with one goal: bragging rights. Both of these teams had already played themselves into the NCAA Tournament, and so this game became less about post-season play and more about bragging rights. As Louisiana entered their seventh game in six days, the lack of fresh arms would ultimately lead to an 11-7 loss for the Cajuns despite a five run ninth.

The Southern Miss bats were hot early and they never looked back, as homers by Seth Smith and Matthew Russo would open up scoring for the Eagles in the first. A Joey Urban single and Davis Gillespie double would drive in three more in the second, and the Eagles were up by six as we moved into the third.

This is when the Ragin’ Cajuns would score their first run of the game as Donovan LaSalle homered to deep left to put Louisiana on the board. Southern Miss would answer and then some, as a Ty Long double and Smith single would drive in two additional runs. They would add on in the fourth and fifth with a Ben Higdon single and Gillespie double would make the score 11-1 in favor of Southern Miss.

Louisiana would add one more run in the seventh on a Blaze Rodriguez single to left, and the ninth inning would bring some intrigue for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Lee Amedee would homer to deep right to bring in two, and just a few batters later Mark Collins would homer and bring in three additional runs. This would be the end of the scoring for Louisiana as the rally would fall short and they would ultimately fall to Southern Miss 11-7.

After the game, Louisiana coach Matt Deggs highlighted the toughness of his team. “This, pound for pound, one of the toughest teams I’ve ever had in 31 years of coaching. Mentally, physically, spiritually, you name it, they’re down for whatever. Any place, any time, and you saw what they’re made of.”

Coach Christian Ostrander of Southern Miss highlighted the pride he had in his team post-game. “Just so proud for these guys, for our players, to get to see them dog pilled, have that moment. [...] It’s [a] long [season], and for these guys to get rewarded with that moment right there, [...] it’s special to see for them.”

While Southern Miss has all but officially locked down being one of the Regional hosts, Louisiana will find out where they’ll head in post-season play on Tuesday; the Selection Show starts at 11am CT.