Four Weeks at No. 1 for LSU - Eunice Bengals
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 29, 2009) - The LSU-Eunice (La.) Bengals remain the top team in the final NJCAA Division II Baseball Poll of the 2009 season. LSU - Eunice is No. 1 in the rankings for the fourth straight week after receiving 147 total poll points and eight of 10 first place votes this week.
LSU-Eunice is followed in the rankings by Lurleen B. Wallace Community College (Ala.) and Des Moines Area Community College (Iowa).
The Bengals improved to 44-7 on the season by going 3-1 over the past week. They split a doubleheader (17-6, 7-9) with Hinds (Miss.) on April 25 and then took two games (61, 5-4) from Mississippi Gulf Coast on April 27.
In the sweep over MGC, Joey Bourgeois got the win to improve to 10-1 on the season. He went eight innings, allowing three hits, one unearned run, with two walks and eight strikeouts. In game two, the Bengals scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh for the 5-4 come from behind victory. Brennan Flick got his second win of the season by tossing 2.2 innings of relief. At the plate, Les Aulds and Zach Kirksey tallied two hits apiece. Auld's second hit scored the tying run in the bottom of the seventh and Kirksey's second hit drove in the winning run.
The Bengals, who rank ninth in the DII ranks with a .366 team batting average, have four players that rank in the top 20 in RBIs. Try Watkins and Gabriel Thibodeaux both have 57, while Aulds and Kirksey have each drove in 54.
LSU-Eunice faces Bossier Parish (La.) today before closing out their regular season on May 2 with a doubleheader against Division I (#7) San Jacinto (Texas). The Bengals will then host the Region 23 Tournament May 14-17.
Lurleen B. Wallace picked up four wins over the past seven days to improve to 41-8 on the season. They swept (13-11, 15-9, 18-5) a three game series from Darton (Ga.) April 25-26 and then defeated Enterprise-Ozark (Ala.) 9-3 last night.
The Saints face Wallace-Dothan (Ala.) tonight before a doubleheader on May 2 against Beville-Fayette (Ala.). LBW will then play in the Region 10/Southeast District Tournament May 13-16 in Burlington, N.C.
Des Moines Area had their 12 game winning streak snapped last night when they fell to Kirkwood (Iowa) 2-0 in the second game of a twin bill. However, the Bears did take the first game 7-1 and defeated Kirkwood on April 25 6-3 and 6-3. DMACC is 40-9 overall and is in first place in the Region 11 standings.
The Bears face Marshalltown (Iowa) for two games tonight and then take on Iowa Lakes in a four-game series May 2-3. They will then travel to the Region 11 Tournament May 5-11 in Carroll, Iowa.
The road to the NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series will include several Region and District tournaments over the next few weeks. Fans can track Division II Region and District play via the NJCAA website. Championship game scores will be posted on the DII Region/District Championship webpage when they become available.
This year, 10 teams will qualify for the DII World Series, which will take place May 23-30 at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Okla. Click here to learn more.
For a complete list of the NJCAA Division II baseball rankings, click on the following link: http://njcaa.org/sports_polls.cfm?category=Polls&sid=8&divid=2&slid=3
=====
