LAFAYETTE, La. --- UC Irvine baseball had the script flipped on them in the second game of the weekend series losing by a score of 7-4 Saturday afternoon against Louisiana at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.

TURBULENT START
The Anteaters (1-1) were off and running in the first inning all with two outs as Jacob Castro singled home Justin Torres for a 1-0 UCI lead.

The bottom of the inning saw everything turn around including the stadium that lost power for the next three innings, and that put a charge into the Ragin' Cajuns who started their first with three infield singles to the first three hitters, two from fumbled bunts when Louisiana (1-1) was sacrificing. Connor Kimple would make them pay with a two-run single, and a sacrifice fly would complete the inning with UL up 3-1.

THE FIFTH INNING AGAIN
The Anteaters made their charge in the fifth inning after starter Peyton Havard was lifted for Chip Menard. A hit by pitch and single started the inning off well, and a run came home on Nathan Church's infield single to cut it to a 3-2 deficit. The tying and go-ahead runs remained on base with two outs, but again Jacob Castro came to the rescue singling up the middle and snatching the lead back for UCI, 4-3.

The defense crumbled again in the bottom of the inning gifting the Cajuns the lead back. After a leadoff out, the Anteater infield dropped a foul ball extending Max Marusak's at-bat allowing him to reach on a HBP. A steal and error put him on third, and another mishandled ball out in front of home plate allowed him to score. A crushing blow came with two outs as Kimple again emerged and clubbed a home run to grab the lead back, 6-4.

FINAL SCORE: LOUISIANA 7, #20 UC IRVINE 4
The Ragin' Cajuns would tack on a seventh run in the seventh inning, and the Anteaters had chances to late, but left five runners on in the final two innings to finish the game.

Nick Pinto drew the loss pitching five full innings and allowing six runs with three earned. He struck out five and was backed up out of the pen by Andre Antone and Michael Stanford allowing a run over three innings between them.

Castro was the Anteater spark on offense with two run scoring hits and three of the team's four RBIs. Church added one as well while Torres reached three times with a double and two walks.

Louisiana got enough out of starter Havard allowing a run over four innings, and the backend of Jacob Schultz and Dylan Theut shutdown UCI in the final 4.1 innings. Kimple with the bat drove in four of the seven runs.

The series comes to a head on Sunday with a 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time start with a chance to win the series for either side. Danny Suarez makes his collegiate debut on the mound for UCI taking on senior righty for Louisiana, Jeff Wilson.