The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns capped off a gritty three-game road series against Old Dominion with a statement 10-0 victory on Saturday, taking two of three games at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia. The weekend featured tight contests, extra-inning dramatics, and an exclamation point from a Cajuns offense that came alive in the finale.

Game One (Thursday): Louisiana 6, ODU 5 (10 innings)

In a back-and-forth opener, Louisiana overcame a 5-3 deficit in the ninth and outlasted the Monarchs in extra innings. Lee Amedee and Maddox Mandino sparked the comeback, with Mandino scoring the tying run in the ninth and Mark Collins scoring the game-winner in the tenth on Drew Markle’s RBI single.

Tate Hess was a rock out of the bullpen, tossing 5.2 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win, while Matthew Holzhammer closed it out in the tenth for the save.

Conor Higgs led the offense with two hits and two RBIs, while Jose Torres added a clutch RBI groundout in the sixth.

Game Two (Friday): ODU 6, Louisiana 5

Old Dominion struck back in game two, capitalizing on three Cajun errors and late-game baserunners. Despite a two-run rally in the eighth inning, Louisiana couldn’t close the gap.

Andrew Herrmann pitched 5.1 innings and gave up just two earned runs, but defensive miscues and a walk-off hit by Evan Holman in the ninth off reliever Dylan Theut handed the Cajuns a heartbreaking loss.

Lee Amedee continued his strong weekend, driving in two runs, and Luke Yuhasz delivered a two-run single in the seventh to tie the game briefly at 4-4.

Game Three (Saturday): Louisiana 10, ODU 0

The Cajuns left no doubt in the series finale, unloading 16 hits and shutting out ODU behind a stellar outing from JR Tollett. The right-hander tossed 6.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, and Riley Marcotte closed it out.

Jose Torres launched a solo home run and went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Maddox Mandino, Drew Markle, and Luke Yuhasz each had multi-hit games. Markle drove in three runs, including two on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt and sacrifice grounder.

Louisiana exploded for four runs in both the sixth and eighth innings, pulling away in dominant fashion and sealing their tenth Sun Belt victory.

Series Takeaways:

• Pitching Resilience: The Cajuns’ bullpen played a major role in the series win, particularly Hess and Tollett combining for 12.1 scoreless innings in their respective starts and relief roles.
• Clutch Performances: Higgs, Amedee, and Mandino delivered in key moments, while Torres’ power added another threat to the lineup.
• Defensive Improvements: After a rough defensive game on Friday, Louisiana tightened up with a clean sheet on Saturday.

Now sitting at 19-23 overall and 10-8 in Sun Belt play, Louisiana heads home with renewed momentum. If the offense continues clicking like it did in Saturday's rout, the Cajuns could be primed for a strong stretch run in conference play.

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