Box score

LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana-Lafayette's Brenn Conrad delivered a two-out, two-run pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Ragin' Cajuns to a 3-2 win over No. 29 University of South Alabama baseball Sunday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

ULL (31-19, 15-11 SBC) trailed USA by a run entering the bottom of the eighth. Kennon Fontenot led off the inning with a pinch-hit single up the middle, and moved to second on a walk from Jaguar left-hander Jared Gates to Tyler Girouard. A sacrifice bunt by Stefan Trosclair advanced both runners into scoring position before USA right-hander Justin Flores recorded the second out of the inning with a strikeout of Kyle Clement. Conrad worked the count to 2-2 then singled through the right side of the infield to score both runners.

South Alabama (34-18, 19-8 SBC) took the game's first lead when Davis Knapp led off the top of the third inning with his first career home run, a solo shot to left field, for a 1-0 advantage.

The Jags added their final run of the game two innings later. Knapp led off the top of the fifth with a double down the left-field line. Ryan Raspino followed with a single to left field to put Jaguar runners at the corners with no outs. USA then doubled its lead later in the inning on an RBI sacrifice bunt by Ben Gann that scored Knapp for a 2-0 lead.

ULL answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth on a one-out RBI single up the middle by Dylan Butler to cut the Jaguar lead in half. Blake Trahan followed with a single to right-center field to put Cajun runners at the corners with one out. Gates recorded the second out of the frame when he fielded a bunt by Brian Mills and fired to Knapp at the plate to cut down Butler attempting to score from third. Girouard followed with a walk to load the bases for Trosclair, but Gates recorded his third strikeout of the game to escape the inning without any further damage.

Gates (4-3) suffered the loss in seven innings pitched, allowing three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and a pair of walks. ULL right-hander Greg Milhorn (2-1) allowed one hit in two scoreless relief innings to earn the win. Dylan Moore tossed a scoreless ninth inning to record his eighth save of the season.

"Jared Gates was fantastic," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "That kid competed and did an outstanding job today. I am so proud of him. He has been great for us all year long. That kid is super-tough. All you can ask of your players is to put the team in a position to win, and that's what Jared Gates did all day and what he has done pretty much all year long. I wasn't shocked by his performance at all. He competed hard like he has done his entire career here, and I am really proud of his effort and his teammates efforts behind him."

The loss snapped USA's winning streak at five games, and ended its Sun Belt Conference winning streak at nine.

Raspino finished 3-for-3, tying a career high in hits, to lead USA at the plate. Knapp finished 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, one RBI and two runs scored, and Cole Gleason and Adam Ballew added two hits apiece.

South Alabama will return to action Thu., May 14, at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts Troy in the first of a three-game conference series at Stanky Field.

"Our guys have been on the road three of the last four weeks, and handled that stretch really well," Calvi said. "This is a close-knit team. They compete hard and play hard, and they give everything they have every single day. You hate it for them because they wanted to win so badly today, but coming on the road and taking two of three games from the defending Sun Belt Conference champions – I'm pretty pleased with their effort.

"They compete and they go out and play the game. They've been loose and competitive all year long, and we're looking forward to the last weekend (of the regular season). It should be a lot of fun with two good teams playing. Hopefully we will have a good crowd; we're excited about it."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).