METAIRIE — In the midst of a season where it’s been a battle to get above .500 from the get-go, UL took a one large step toward that and did it in dramatic fashion Tuesday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns beat No. 14 LSU 6-5 in the Wally Pontiff Classic at the Shrine on Airline here, doing it behind back-to-back home runs by Orynn Veillon and Handsome Monica in the eighth inning.
Monica went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Veillon 2-for-4 with three RBIs to account for five of UL’s six runs.
Starter Logan Savoy, meanwhile, struck out two in 3.1 innings and Jacob Shultz (1-1) four in 4.0 innings to get to the win.
Usual reliever Todd Peterson started for LSU and put UL down in order in the top of the first.
Peterson went just one inning for the Tigers, who bullpenned the game as planned beforehand.
Veillon’s single up the middle scored Hunter Kasuls from second to put UL up 1-0 in the second, and Daniel Lahare came across on Monica’s sac fly to make it 2-0.
Both Kasuls and Lahare were walked by Chase Costello, who followed Peterson.
Brennan Breaux reached on a walk and later scored from third on a double steal, facilitated by Kasuls drawing a throw to second, as UL went up 3-0 in the third.
Savoy put the side down in order in the third, getting some help from Breaux, who ran down a flyball to centerfield by Josh Smith.
Cade Beloso tied it for UL with a three-run homer just inside the foul pole in right in the fourth off Savoy, who walked Antoine Duplantis to open the inning and allowed a single to Daniel Cabrera.
Savoy exited after giving up the homer and hitting a man, yielding way to freshman Connor Cooke.
LSU got to Cooke in the fifth, when Brandt Broussard’s sac fly followed by Beloso’s RBI single made it 5-3 Tigers.
With Schultz replacing Cooke for the start of the sixth, UL turned a 5-4-3 double play to get out of the half-inning.
After UL went down order in the top of the seventh, Schultz did the same to LSU in the bottom of the inning.
And with one out in the eighth, and Kasuls at first after a single, Veillon dropped his homer well over the wall in left. Monica followed with his, also over the wall in left off Tigers pitcher Trent Vietmeier.
“I was definitely taking daddy hacks, absolutely,” said Veillon, who crushed the ball. “I was trying to get on the board for us.
Schultz retired the side in order again in the bottom of the eighth.
UL stranded two in the top of the ninth and went to the bottom of the inning up one run.
Schultz got it done then, too, getting two quick outs and allowing a single before ending things with a strikeout of Giovanni DiGiacomo.
UL reserve catcher Sebastian Toro recently had a PRP injection to aid with the healing of his ailing elbow, which will keep him out another three weeks, effectively ending his season, Robichaux said. … Breaux, who played two seasons at LSU, and legendary ex-LSU coach/athletic director Skip Bertman shared a moment before Tuesday’s game. … In the house: UL football coach Billy Napier.
UL opens a three-game Sun Belt Conference series Thursday night at Texas-Arlington.