Ragin Cajuns Baseball vs Southern Miss. Series Preview

(Lafayette, Louisiana) - The No. 17-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball team opens a three-game Sun Belt Conference series beginning on Friday when it hosts league rival Southern Miss at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.

The series starts on Friday in a 6 p.m. contest before resuming on Saturday at 2 p.m. The final game of the three-game series is slated for Sunday with a 1 p.m. start.

All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Dan McDonald (pxp) and Eric Mouton (color) providing commentary. Fans in the Lafayette area can listen to each game of the series on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app with Jay Walker (pxp) and Brad Topham (color) on the call.

Louisiana (31-12, 15-3 SBC) faces Southern Miss (26-15, 11-7 SBC) for the second time as conference rivals and will meet for the 62^nd time in a series which dates back to 1925. The teams met four times during the 2023 season with the Golden Eagles taking two of three games in Hattiesburg before a 6-2 victory in the 2023 SBC Championship game.

Trey LaFleur (.373-7-24) leads Louisiana at the plate with Kyle DeBarge (.347-13-42) pacing the Ragin’ Cajuns in both home runs and RBI. Duncan Pastore (.311-2-29), Conor Higgs (.305-9-24) and Caleb Stelly (.301-1-25) are next in hitting for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who enter the weekend ranked fifth in the SBC in team batting average (.295).

A pair of southpaws – Andrew Herrmann (4-2, 2.77 ERA) and Chase Morgan (4-1, 2.70 ERA) – will start in the opening two games for Louisiana with right-hander Carson Fluno (2-0, 2.70 ERA) expected to pitch in Sunday’s finale.

USM picked up an 11-6 win at Tulane on Tuesday as Nick Monistere had four hits and drove in four runs in the victory. The Golden Eagles took two of three games last at home against ULM, earning a pair of run-rule victories before falling the finale on Sunday.

Dalton McIntyre , the Sun Belt leader in hitting, paces USM with a .397 average with a pair of home runs and 23 RBI. David Gillespie (.315-6-22) is the other regular in the lineup hitting above .300 for Southern Miss with Slade Wilks (.297-9-37) leading the team in home runs.

Right-hander Billy Oldham (5-1, 4.13 ERA) will start in Friday’s opener for the Golden Eagles with right-hander Niko Mazza (6-3, 4.82 ERA) earning the start on Saturday.

Tickets for Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Baseball are available for purchase on-line at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685).

Group tickets are also available by contacting the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office by email at Tickets@louisiana.edu.

Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.

For the latest updates on Ragin' Cajuns baseball, follow on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.