Game 2: Louisiana 7, TCU 6

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Dylan Theut recorded the final out with two on in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Louisiana to a 7-6 win over 23^rd-ranked TCU Friday evening in the NCAA College Station Regional at Blue Bell Park.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns (37-21), the regional's No. 3 seed, advance in the winners' bracket to face host and 7^th-ranked Texas A&M (38-18) on Saturday night at 6 p.m. No. 2 seed TCU (36-21) will face No. 4 seed Oral Roberts (38-19) in Saturday's elimination game with first pitch set for Noon.
 
Theut's save, his third of the year, backed up a big-time relief outing by Bo Bonds (5-3)—who picked up the victory. He would allow just three hits and two runs over 4.2 innings of work while fanning seven.
 
Louisiana scored all seven runs and recorded seven of its eight hits on the night with two outs.
 
A pair of two-out home runs staked Louisiana to an early three-run lead. With a runner at first in the top of the second, Will Veillon launched his fourth round-tripper of the year high over the fence in left field. Two pitches later, Trey LaFleur went deep to right center to make the score 3-0.
 
TCU responded with a Tommy Sacco two-run shot in the bottom of the third, and two innings later took their first lead of the night on a 2-run single by Kurtis Byrne.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns responded in their next at-bat with back-to-back run-scoring hits—a single by Julian Brock and a triple by CJ Willis—to regain the lead at 5-4. Louisiana maintained its one-run advantage after the teams traded runs in the seventh.
 
In the eighth, UL made the score 7-5 on a two-out infield single and throwing error. TCU would get the run back in the bottom of the inning, when David Bishop lined a two-out double past a diving right fielder to plate Bobby Goodloe. Cajuns reliever Bo Bonds would preserve the lead, however, striking out Luke Boyers to end the threat with the tying run at second.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
CJ Willis (UL) – 2-for-4, 3B, RBI
Will Veillon (UL) – 1-for-3, 2-run HR
Trey LaFleur (UL) – 1-for-2, 2 BB, solo HR
Tommy Sacco (TCU) – 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
David Bishop (TCU) – 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
Kurtis Byrne (TCU) – 1-for-4, 2 RBI



TCU QUOTES
 
Associate Head Coach Bill Mosiello
Opening Statement…
"First, I want to tip my hat to Louisiana. They did a really good job of competing and stayed really aggressive. We did a good job of throwing a couple guys out and they still had the guts to steal a bag that ended up being a big run for them. Hard fought ball game we didn't command the baseball on the mound, it always starts on the mound. Riley (Cornelio) did not do a great job commanding the baseball and gave up a lot of free bases which gave Louisiana a lot of opportunities. We also didn't catch a couple big plays, two plays that should have never been thrown cost us. It was hard to swallow, and it was a competitive game, and I give those guys a lot of credit for really competing and putting some pressure on us."
 
On the message to the team…
"To keep their heads up, this one is over. Don't go home and feel sorry for yourself, get some food in and it is an early day tomorrow. The negative of losing today is the 12 o'clock game tomorrow. It is over with; these are the guys you want to go to war with. This is a resilient group, as soon as you think they are not very good they come out playing. This is a good group of kids, and it is fun to be around these guys. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day."
 
On having a chance to win the tournament…
"We are playing to win this thing. The goal is to have a chance to win it, not just get there. You have to take some chances; you have to go a little deeper into the bullpen and pitch somebody who is a lower guy to get to the next game."
 
Senior second baseman Gray Rodgers
On how errors altered the game…
"I feel like with the game being over now it is always easy to go back and think of those times, but we also had a ton of times where we came through. Kurtis (Byrne) had a big two RBI single, so we put ourselves in good situations to put up a lot of runs. A lot of the time it is that one hit that gets the rally going and keeps it going and maybe takes a team out of the game, but you never know."  
LOUISIANA QUOTES
 
Head Coach Matt Deggs
 
Opening statement...
"I thought that it was a heck of a game, and one of our best games of the year from a toughness and aggressiveness standpoint. We just kept coming and coming and coming. TCU is a really good ball club and they ran some good arms at us tonight. I thought we did a great job of competing all night on the bump, at the dish and specifically on the bases. I thought our speed stressed them quite a few times. We have some guys playing banged up and playing hurt. That just speaks to the brotherhood that these guys have. That is their strength: their bond. You saw that play out tonight."
 
On the aggressiveness of the offense...
"Nothing fazes these kids. They just kept running and kept going, and it paid off eventually. Our baserunning forced a couple of mistakes and we were able to steal a couple of bases. Our speed definitely loosened things up for us, and we came up with some big hits tonight too. I thought (Will) Veillon's first at-bat got us going, and Trey followed that up. We've been really good all year with two strikes and two outs. When you look at the box score, we only had eight strikeouts and drew six walks. I thought our guys played pretty hard tonight."
 
On the relief effort from RHP Bo Bonds...
"He is just a warrior on the mound. He loves to compete. I would say he's an adrenaline junky, and he loves to play in the big moments. I would have loved to stick with him at the end of the game, but in his first pitch against his last batter he began to feel a little discomfort. I didn't want to chance anything with him. I thought that Dylan Theut did a great job of trying to execute pitches against (TCU's Tommy) Sacco, and obviously he had a huge 3-2 breaking ball that he was able to land for the last out."
 
Sophomore catcher Julian Brock
 
On his next at-bat following a mistake behind the plate...
"Coach is very big on responding to our mistakes. I felt like, in that moment, I had to do something big. There were two outs, and that's typically our bread and butter. I thought that it was a good opportunity to tack on a run after Heath (Hood's) stolen base that he had with a runner on second."  
 
Junior second baseman CJ Willis
 
On his triple...
"We work on that sort of situation a lot. That is really our bread and butter. When we have two outs on the board, our job is to just get it to the next guy. Don't try to do too much, just put the ball in play and try to force the defense to make plays. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't, but we have to put pressure on the defense."


 
UPDATED REGIONAL SCHEDULE
(all times Central)
 
Friday, June 3
Game 1: Texas A&M 8, Oral Roberts 2
Game 2: Louisiana 7, TCU 6
 
Saturday, June 4
Game 3: Oral Roberts vs TCU, 12 p.m.
Game 4: Texas A&M vs Louisiana, 6 p.m.
 
Sunday, June 5
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs Game 4 loser, 1 p.m.
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs Game 5 winner, 7 p.m.
 
Monday, June 6
Game 7: Game 4 winner vs Game 5 winner (if necessary), 6 p.m.