”Be fast, hard, and loose and be ready to throw down.”
That’s the expectation from Matt Deggs as his Louisiana Ragin Cajuns prepare to open the 2023 season Friday evening on the road with Rice.
The Cajuns are looking to defend their 2022 Sun Belt Championship while taking the next step in their journey towards walking through the gates of Omaha, a promise Deggs made to the Cajun fanbase during his introductory press conference in July 2019.
Louisiana finished the 2022 season with a record of 37-23, finding their footing in the conference tournament as the #4 seed. After taking down South Alabama, Texas State, and Georgia Southern, Louisiana won its first conference championship since 2016 and went on to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since hosting a regional that same season.
In College Station, Louisiana battled with TCU and Texas A&M, earning one win over the Horned Frogs before falling in back-to-back games to the Aggies and TCU on their way out of the tournament.
What are the expectations for 2023? Go a step further.
“It’s a great jumping-off point for us,” Deggs said at baseball media day last week. “It took us, you know, three years just about to get to that point, which was a little longer than I expected or wanted. But that dogpile at the end was worth it.”
The Cajuns return a large piece of that success from 2022 with players such as Carson Roccaforte, Julian Brock, Kyle DeBarge, and more returning to the Russo Park dugout for another season. Max Marusak, Heath Hood, Will Veillon, and CJ Willis round out the offensive core returning from a year ago.
“You can’t pay for success or put a price tag on that experience coming back,” said Deggs.
The biggest question mark for 2023 is the pitching staff, which is very similar to 2022. However, this time around, the questions are due to so many new faces in the group. Jake Hammond will be the Friday night starter after two years of being a reliever for Deggs. Blake McGeehee, an Ole Miss transfer, and Jackson Nezuh from Florida State will round out the rotation on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Louisiana opens the season Friday night against Rice in a three-game series before opening Russo Park to the Cajun faithful for a four-game series with BYU beginning next Wednesday.