Cane Cutters News

Acadiana Sweeps Seguin, Improves to 3-1 on Season

SEGUIN - Breakout innings were key in the Acadiana Cane Cutters (3-1) completing a road sweep of the reigning TCL Champion Seguin River Monsters (1-2). Game one’s victory remained a little close for comfort until a breakout eighth inning gave way to a 9-5 victory. Game two saw them take advantage in the fifth and sixth innings for a blowout 13-3 win to clinch the series.

Seguin struck first in Saturday night’s contest as Austin Stracener scored from third on an error in the field. Acadiana fought back in the two following innings, scoring Bryce Calloway on a sac-fly by Nathan Howard in the fourth and Mark Collins on an RBI single from Tanner Hornback in the fifth. 

Down 2-5 entering the eighth inning, erroneous pitching by Seguin’s Cody Edwards saw Calloway, Blaise Blanchar, and Howard all take free bases. Back to back doubles from Bennett Mittelsteadt and Collins saw all three runners come home, with Mittelsteadt himself scoring on a wild pitch. Collins, a walked Tanner Hornback, and a walked Tanner Sever touched home thanks to two more wild pitches and a passed ball, resulting in a seven-run comeback for Lafayette in just that inning alone.

Caleb Ougel took the mound in the bottom of the eighth and, despite a bases-loaded scare in the ninth, shut down the Texas team to secure the Cane Cutters’ second win of the summer, 9-5.

Caleb Ougel (1-0) took the pitching win for holding down the final two innings, while River Monster Anthony Truitt (0-1) took the loss. Starting pitcher Lucas Moore allowed just three hits through the first four innings of play. Blaine Newman and Caleb Muffoleto worked to strike out a combined three batters out of the team’s total four strikeouts through three innings. Acadiana put up nine hits, with Collins accounting for three and Nathan Howard accounting for two.

Sunday night saw Acadiana fall behind in the start, but surge late: Seguin’s Dakota Howard launched a deep ball into the gap between Collins and Mittelsteadt for a triple, later coming in to score on a ball that escaped Jake LaRocca behind the dish. Mittelsteadt himself was the one to even the score by stealing on a wild pitch later in fourth, which the River Monsters matched in the bottom of the inning. 

In an eerily similar fashion to game one, the fifth inning sees bases juiced after Hornback, Reid Snider, and Dylan Biddick are walked by Breck Bradshaw. A jam shot by Mittelsteadt fumbled by the Seguin shortstop sees Hornback and Snider score. Biddick and Mittelsteadt both received free passes home after Bryce Nall issued a walk and hit-by-pitch with ducks already on the pond. Collins and Ougel added two more runs on a sacrifice hit by Ashton Quiller and the River Monsters’ second fielding error of the inning. 

Leading by four runs in the top of the sixth, the Cane Cutters made it known their reign of terror was far from over. Mittelsteadt slams his second double of the night into left field to score LaRocca, while Biddick and Mittelsteadt are walked home for two more. Collins and Ougel scored via RBI by Quiller and Snider to cap off an impressive five-run inning. LaRocca added the final run in the top of the ninth to end the night and solidify a dominant 13-3 Cane Cutters victory. 

Konnor Graham, Caleb Menard, and Jose Nunez combined to strike out 10 River Monsters through nine innings, with Graham accounting for half of them through four. Jose Nunez earned his first win of the year, while Seguin’s Bradshaw (0-1) took the loss. Acadiana put up 11 hits on Sunday night, with Mittelsteadt accounting for three including two doubles. Mittelsteadt posted three doubles across the series with Seguin, leading his team overall in that category and in RBI (5). 

The Acadiana Cane Cutters will return to Fabacher Field to open their home season with the visiting Victoria Generals (2-1) on June 4-5. Both games will begin at 7:05 PM CT and can be watched on TCL TV. 

Fans can keep up with the Cane Cutters on X (@CanecuttersBB), Instagram (@canecutters.bslb), and Facebook (@Acadiana Cane Cutters Baseball).

Special thanks to Sports Writer Maddy Branning