Louisiana
Louisiana baseball claims doubleheader sweep over GSU
LAFAYETTE, L. (KLFY) — Dominant pitching outings from Andrew Herrmann and Cody Brasch, along with a combined 22 hits helped Louisiana claim a doubleheader sweep of Georgia State, winning the opener, 14-1, before posting a 5-1 victory in the nightcap on Saturday at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.
Colt Brown and Donovan LaSalle belted home runs in the opener to help lead a 10-hit attack while Noah Lewis went 3-for-5 with two RBI in the nightcap to lead Louisiana (29-18, 11-12 SBC) to its fourth straight win, its seventh victory in its last eight games and its first doubleheader Sweep in SBC play since facing South Alabama in 2023.
GAME 1 – LOUISIANA 14, GEORGIA STATE 1 (7 innings)
Herrmann (6-2) scattered five hits and fanned six batters in recording his fourth complete game
of the season and moving into a tie for the national lead with Jaden Wywoda of Holy Cross. The
southpaw kept GSU off the board until the seventh when Wesley Bass hit a solo homer to help
the Panthers avoid a shutout.
Louisiana took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, beginning with Brown’s fourth home run of the
the season off GSU starter Brian Crooms (3-4) – a 411-foot blast to center. The Ragin’ Cajuns
added two more runs in the frame when Drew Markle lifted a sacrifice fly to drive in Blaze
Rodriguez before Steven Spalitta slid in under the tag of Panther’s catcher Lucas Grantham on a
double steal.
The Ragin’ Cajuns scored seven runs in the third as Brown drove in Lee Amedee with a bloop
single to left for a 4-0 lead. Spalitta added an RBI single to plate Rigoberto Hernandez and
Brown scored on a balk before Markle hit an RBI double into the left-center field gap.
Amedee drew a bases-loaded walk for an 8-0 lead before a wild throw on a pickoff led to runs
by Mark Collins and Lewis.
LaSalle increased Louisiana’s lead to 13-0 in the fourth after plastering a 0-and-1 pitch for his
eighth homer of the season – a three-run, 424-foot drive to left.
The Cajuns added their final run in the fifth as Lewis scored on a fielding error.
Crooms allowed four runs on a pair of hits in 2.0 innings of work. Bass went 2-for-3 for the
Panthers with Austin Killingworth and Cole Griffith each adding doubles.
GAME 2 – LOUISIANA 5, GEORGIA STATE 1
Brasch (4-2) notched his second straight quality start after allowing one hit, retiring 15 straight
batters and striking out three over 6.2 innings of work. Tyler Papenbrock pitched the final 2.1
innings to earn his first save of the season.
Louisiana broke open a scoreless game in the third as Markle led off with a single and scored on
Lewis’ RBI double to center. Amedee followed with an RBI single to right field off GSU starter
Michael Caruso (5-6) to give the Cajuns a 2-0 lead.
With a 2-0 lead in the seventh, Papenbrock came in to relieve Brasch after Griffith reached on a
two-out, two-base error and got Bass to ground out to second to preserve the lead
The Cajuns increased their lead to 3-0 in the bottom half of the frame as Brown drew a bases loaded walk off GSU reliever Nicholas Holbrook and scored twice in the eighth after the
Panthers cut the deficit to 3-1 in the eighth on Sam Silas drove in Killingsworth on an RBI
groundout.
LaSalle reached on a fielder’s choice and Markle was hit by a pitch before Collins singled
through the left side to drive in LaSalle for a 4-1 lead. After a GSU error moved both runners
into scoring position, Lewis chopped an RBI single up the third-base line to plate Markle.
Louisiana recorded 12 hits off four GSU pitchers with Collins, Rodriguez and Spalitta recording
two hit each. The combination of Brasch and Papenbrock produced 16 groundball outs and
allowed four base runners on the day.