June 5, 2007

Injury bug hurts Cajuns
Hicks, Logan, Robichaux not able to start
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - UL's baseball team had the injury bug strike at the worst possible time in the hours prior to Monday's NCAA Tournament College Station Regional finale.
The Cajuns were missing two regular starters, third baseman Matt Hicks and centerfielder Josh Logan, for the deciding game against Texas A&M. Infielder Justin Robichaux, who could have replaced Hicks at third base, was also not able to play with an injury.

Hicks, who had started 26 of UL's last 27 games, was unavailable for Monday's game after experiencing headaches and other concussion symptoms. Hicks was struck in the left temple area by a pitch in the fourth inning of Friday's 5-4 win over Ohio State, and went to a local hospital for tests overnight.

The sophomore from Houston went 0-for-3 in Saturday's 5-4 win over A&M, and also started Sunday's game against the Aggies but left in the fifth inning after going 0-for-2.
"Anytime you're dealing with a guy's head, you've got to be extra careful," said Cajun coach Tony Robichaux.

Logan had a foul tip go off his left ankle in leading off Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Aggies. He remained in the game, going 2-for-5, but was noticeably limping and wore a protective pad on his ankle the rest of the game. Logan, a native of Magee, Miss., was on crutches for part of Monday.

He did see action for one at-bat, pinch hitting in the ninth inning but striking out.

Robichaux had been penciled in at third base, but injured his thumb during pregame batting practice when a ground ball glanced off his glove and hit his throwing hand. X-rays were negative.

Robichaux had not played third this season, but had practiced at the position and played there for a time in high school at Notre Dame.

Senior Devery Van De Keere, who started 27 games at third base but had made only two starts since April 7, started at third base. In the outfield, Nolan Gisclair shifted from his normal right field slot to center and Kolin Hatfield was the right-field starter, his 37th outfield start this season.

WEATHER: The Brazos Valley area was under a severe thunderstorm watch for most of the day, and a light rain caused game officials to cover the infield at approximately 5 p.m. But the system passed through without any major rain, and the tarp was pulled at 6 p.m.

Game time was delayed until 6:50 p.m. because of field preparations after the tarp was pulled.

A LITTLE FURTHER: A&M's first run Monday came on Craig Stinson's solo home run leading off the second inning. In contrast to his drive in Saturday night's game, this one was deep enough.

Stinson's towering shot on Saturday was caught by UL left fielder Jefferies Tatford in an over-the-fence catch in the ninth inning, helping the Cajuns hold on for that win. Monday's shot was in almost the same place, and Tatford went to the wall and made a leap, but the ball landed several feet behind the fence.

THEY GONNA LEARN: A&M ranked sixth in the nation in stolen bases entering the regional, and had 149 on the season entering Monday's game. Obviously, they didn't run against Cajun catcher Jonathan Lucroy in getting those numbers.

Lucroy threw out all four Aggies that attempted steals in the three games the teams played. Two of those came Monday, when he gunned Kyle Colligan in the first inning and Parker Dalton in the eighth.

GOING BALLISTIC: Texas A&M third base coach Matt Deggs was ejected from the game by plate umpire Tony Maners in the third inning after arguing an out call at the plate.

Blake Stouffer was thrown out at the plate trying to score from third on Luke Anders' infield grounder, with Cajun catcher Jonathan Lucroy making a sweep tag. Maners called Stouffer out, and Deggs charged from the third-base box and appeared to make contact with Maners before head coach Rob Childress could get between the two.

An NCAA representative said that Deggs does not face further sanctions pending a report from the umpire crew chief.

If Texas A&M was a member of the Sun Belt Conference, Deggs would miss the Aggies' next game since the Sun Belt has a no-tolerance policy on ejections and a one-game suspension is mandatory. The Big 12 Conference has no such regulation.

SUPER STUFF: Pairings for the Super Regional round will be released today online at www.ncaasports.com. The announcement had originally been scheduled for Monday night but was delayed since weather pushed two of the Regionals back.

A&M will travel to play Rice in the Super Regional, with dates and times to be determined today. Other Super Regionals are not so cut-and-dried, with one matchup pairing number three regional seeds (Oklahoma State and Louisville) and two pairing second-seeded teams (Cal State Fullerton-UCLA and Mississippi State-Clemson).