The Acadiana Cane Cutters wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard Tuesday night, plating six runs in the first two innings to defeat the Seguin River Monsters 8-3 at Fabacher Field. With the win, the Cutters improve to 10-5 when scoring in the first inning and climb back to .500 at 18-18 on the season.

Rayce Giddens continued his dominant stretch on the mound, earning his third consecutive quality start. The right-hander tossed 7.0 innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out six. Kade Linn closed the door, striking out three over 1.2 innings to notch his third save of the year and lower his ERA to 2.38 in his eighth appearance.

Offensively, the Cutters were clicking from the start. One run came across in the first before Acadiana broke the game open with a five-run second. Rigoberto Hernandez and Cody Breaux both finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, powering the early surge. Jake Farris and Christian Hallmark each added an RBI, and 8 of 9 starters either scored or drove in a run, highlighting a complete team effort.

Acadiana now holds a five-game lead over the Gumbeaux Gators, when counting the tiebreaker in the second-half standings. The team that finishes with the better second-half record between Acadiana and Lake Charles will earn a playoff spot against the Baton Rouge Rougarou.

The Cutters will look to take the series as they host the River Monsters again Wednesday night in the finale. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. on TCL TV.