LAFAYETTE, La. – No. 20 Coastal Carolina dropped the opening game of its Sun Belt Conference series at Louisiana on Thursday night, falling 7-2 at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
The Ragin' Cajuns jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before the Chanticleers broke through offensively in the top of the seventh inning.
With two runners aboard, Blake Barthol launched a two-run home run to cut the deficit to 5-2. The blast marked Barthol's sixth home run of the season.
Louisiana answered with a run in the bottom half of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 6-2 and held Coastal Carolina scoreless the rest of the way.
With the loss, the Chanticleers moved to 35-18 overall and 20-8 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Coastal Carolina and the Ragin' Cajuns will continue the series on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
