Cane Cutters News

YOUNGSVILLE - After going on a previous five game winning streak, the Acadiana Cane Cutters (5-5) dropped two to the visiting Baton Rouge Rougarou (4-3) 10-11 and 3-7. The Lafayette team, previously atop the leaderboard across both the Louisiana and Texas divisions, dropped to third place in the state and fourth overall. 

Game one saw a back and forth contest between the two Louisiana clubs. Baton Rouge struck early, scoring Zeb Ruddell to kick off the first inning. Ashton Quiller and Bennett Mittelsteadt scored in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the lead. 

A disastrous third inning spelled initial trouble for the Cane Cutters. Five walks and two errors in the field see the Rougarou bat around to score five runs, despite only managing two hits. Fighting back, back-to-back singles from Tanner Sever and Mark Collins scored two via RBI. Sever himself tacked on the third run of the response. 

Acadiana wrestled the lead back in the fourth after taking advantage of three consecutive walks issued by Sean Hammett. Mittelsteadt and Dylan Biddick scored on RBI singles from Bryce Calloway and Reid Snider, while Quiller and Calloway took advantage of erroneous throws to solidify a 9-6 lead. 

Cane Cutter pitching faltered once again later in the sixth. Blayne Newman walked two and hit Rafael Gross at the plate, loading the bases for his substitute JC Acosta. Acosta and his replacement Carson Fair, who came in just three batters later, saw a combined four runs cross as a result of two more free bases issued and two fielder’s choices by the infield.

Baton Rouge earned their eleventh run of the night in the last inning, adding insurance and extending their lead to two. Despite Austin Mills scoring on a wild pitch, the Cane Cutters’ attempt to tie things up proved too risky: Quiller was thrown out by left fielder Rafael Gross while trying to slide into home.

JC Acosta (0-1) was charged with his first loss of the year, while Matthew Bienvenu (1-1) earned his first win. Kameron Hardebeck, who closed out the final inning for Baton Rouge, walked away with the save. Acadiana recorded 14 hits in game one to the Rougarou’s six, but 11 walks and three errors in the field provided more than enough opportunities to score to the visiting team. 

The following night’s game progressed in near opposite fashion. Sever singled into right field to score Hank Howard in the fourth, putting the Cane Cutters on the board first. Calloway scored on a sacrifice-fly by Blaise Blanchar in the seventh to push the lead 2-0.

Acadiana’s pitching held very strong through the first eight innings, giving up merely four hits with no runs scored. Konnor Graham, who started for the Lafayette team, threw 5.2 innings himself to pick up one strikeout and issue just a single walk. 

Held scoreless throughout the entire game, the Rougarou surged in the final inning. Caleb Muffoleto, who had entered in the eighth inning, dealt three walks to the first four batters faced, forcing the Cane Cutters to go back into their bullpen for Caleb Ougel. DJ Walker, who was 1-4 on the night, singled into center field to score Mason Ruiz for the Rougarou’s first run. Joshua Shelly singled to score Chris Viamonte and later stole home on a wild pitch by JC Acosta. Three walks with crowded bases spelled three more runs for Baton Rouge, capped off by Ruiz scoring Blaise Priester on a sac-fly in his second at-bat of the inning. 

11 total walks were issued by the Cane Cutter pitching staff throughout the game: seven of them were dished out in the ninth inning alone, giving the Rougarou an opportunity to bat around for the second time across the series. Free bases and solid late-game contact gave way to a 7-2 Baton Rouge lead headed into the bottom of the ninth. Acadiana left six of those seven runs unanswered, scoring Quiller on an RBI single from Howard but unable to do much more.

Muffoletto (0-2) was charged with the loss while Reagan James earned his first win. Both teams recorded an even six hits each. Baton Rouge turned their losing season into a winning one, putting Acadiana right at .500 in turn.

The Acadiana Cane Cutters will face the Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators (5-4) for the first time this summer in a two-game stint on June 11-12. They’ll travel back to Bryan, TX for an away series with Brazos Valley (4-4) on June 13-14 before returning to Fabacher Field for a home series with the Bombers on June 15-16. All of these games can be streamed live 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