The Acadiana Cane Cutters came into Lake Charles and defeated the Gators 3-2 in 11 innings of play. The Gators scored 2 in the 3rd inning, and they had the lead all the way up until the 7th when the Cane Cutters tied the game up at 2. Caden Copeland, a Junior at Louisiana Tech from Midland Texas, started on the mound for the Gators. Compared to the recent pitching struggles from Lake Charles, Copeland had a solid outing. He went 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. 3 of his 4 walks came in the 5th inning where it was his last inning of the day. Copeland found the strike zone early and punched out some of the Cane Cutter’s best hitters. He was pulled in the 5th inning and Reagan Weilblinger came in relief. Weilblinger went 2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K’s. The only hit he gave up was an RBI single to Conner O’Neal who had 4 Hits in the game. Primeaux came in the game in the 8th inning. He struck out 3 and gave up 3 hits. Carson Laws came in to close the game, he finished with 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Offensively for Lake Charles, Aaron Morgan went 2-3 at the plate with two singles, and 2 walks. He showed off on the bases as he stole 6 bags for the Gators. He also scored 1 of 2 runs in the game. Owen Galt went 1-4 with a 2B and a run for the Gators. Evan Joubert reached base safely 4 times in 5 plate appearances. He walked 3 times, and hit a single in the 6th inning. The Gators couldn’t execute with runners on base and they left a total of 10 ducks on the pond throughout the 11 inning game.
This loss makes it 5 in a row for Lake Charles. As of July 17th, they have a record of 18-17 and in their last 10 games, they’re 3-7. For the Gators to get back on track, they will have to clean up the struggles on the mound, and stay consistent at the plate on the offensive side of things. They will take on the Cane Cutters again tonight at 7:00 P.M. at Joe Miller Ballpark.