HOUSTON — Earlier this afternoon on the outskirts of New Orleans, Cardinals’ minor leaguer Nick Stavinoha — a familiar name in those parts because of his turn as a slugger at LSU — put two bits of news on the Zephyr Field scoreboard. First, he drove in Triple-A Memphis first run in a 2-0 victory. And then a short time later …

Well, here’s how the official release from the New Orleans Zephyrs put it:

Stavinoha, a former LSU Tiger, drove in the Redbirds’ first run in the second inning after a leadoff double by Josh Phelps. Not long after, his wife called Zephyr Field to inform him that she was expecting a baby girl, a message that was relayed to Stavinoha via the scoreboard.

Second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir drove in the other run for the Redbirds, and opening day starter Mike Parisi got the victory. Parisi scattered four hits and struck out three in six innings before handing the ball to a bullpen. Ron Flores and Jason Motte bridged the two-run lead to Chris Perez, who got his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.

Z’s starter Tony Armas struck out Colby Rasmus three times.

Still, the afternoon belonged to Stavinoha. Highlighted of course by the surprise message on the scoreboard. Starting in left field, he cracked two singles to raise his average to .285 and his RBI was his fifth of the season. The former long snapper who came to LSU as a catcher and left drafted as an outfielder, Stavinoha is one of four Redbirds with at least five RBIs this season. (The others are Joe Mather, Brian Barden and team-leader Amaury Marti, who has six.) All six of Stavinoha’s hits this season, however, are singles.

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