Louisiana State University Eunice

May 29, 2008
Game 14
LSU-Eunice Captures 2008 World Series Title

The LSU-Eunice Bengals (52-12) won the 2008 NJCAA Division II World Series by defeating Lenoir CC (54-12) 17-5 at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn.  The Bengals picked up their second national championship in three years. 

LSU-Eunice trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the second, but then the runs came in bunches.  The Bengals scored all 17 of their runs in the first seven innings.  Right fielder Perry Smith, the 2008 World Series MVP, had a career day, going 4-4 with two doubles and five RBI.  Boomer Blanchard and Delta Cleary each had a home run for LSU-Eunice.  Ryan Boudreaux pitched a complete game for LSU-Eunice, recording five strikeouts and giving up four earned runs.

Lenoir CC came out strong, but was overwhelmed by Bengal hitting.  No Lancer pitcher lasted more than three innings.  Left-fielder Todd Seymour went 3-4 with an RBI for Lenoir. 

May 28, 2008
Game 11
LSU-Eunice Advances to Championship Game, Monroe and Lenoir To Play For Other Spot

LSU-Eunice (51-12) run-ruled Lenoir (53-11) 13-3 to secure their spot in the 2008 NJCAA Division II World Series Championship Game.  Lenoir will now play Monroe (41-14) for the final spot in the national championship. 

LSU-Eunice flaunted their offense in a 13-3 rout of the Lancers.  The Bengals crushed two home runs, including a blast over the scoreboard in left field by first-baseman Kellen Bozeman.  The other home run was hit by catcher Nate Peterson.  LSU-Eunice was concerned about losing their momentum after a rain delay the night before, but they picked up right where they left off.  The first batter of the day, Perry Smith, hit a two-RBI triple.  Two batters later, Peterson hit his home run to increase the Bengal lead to eight runs. 

Lenoir started of strong, capitalizing on LSU-Eunice mistakes to score two runs in the top of the first.  The Lancers could not counter the Bengal hitting, resulting in a lopsided loss for the Lancers.

In the first game, Monroe eliminated five-time champion Grand Rapids CC (29-24) by an 8-4 margin.  The game was tied through eight innings 4-4, with all four of Monroe’s runs being unearned.   Grand Rapids committed a tournament-high eight errors in the game, one away from the tournament record.  Monroe opened up the top of the ninth with a handful of singles that plated two Tribune runs. 

Tribune reliever Brandon DeRosa pitched phenomenally, allowing only one hit in four innings of relief.  Ben Sietsema, the Grand Rapids starter, gave up four runs in six and one-third innings, but all of them were unearned. 

LSU-Eunice will play the winner of Wednesday night’s game between Monroe and Lenoir. 

May 25,2008
Game 8
LSU-Eunice Stages A Major Comeback
To Beat Elgin 14-12

MILLINGTON, Tenn. -- LSU-Eunice (50-12) clawed back after being down 8-0 after three innings to beat Elgin CC (32-15) 14-12.  The two teams combined for 31 hits in the final game of Day 2 of the 2008 NJCAA Division II World Series.

The Bengals of LSU-Eunice have made a habit lately of working their way out of large deficits.  In the regional tournament, LSUE was down 8-0 to Meridian before coming back to win that game. 

Hitting was the story in this game with six of the nine Bengal starters recording multi-hit games. The Bengals got the ball rolling in the fourth inning by scoring six runs to cut the Spartan lead to 8-6.  LSUE hit two home runs in the fourth inning; The first a three run blast by catcher Nate Peterson and the second by shortstop Boomer Blanchard, his second in as many days.  The Bengals took the lead briefly in the seventh inning after scoring five runs with two outs against them. The momentum change seemed to be when centerfielder Delta Cleary hit a triple with two men on, and then scored on an errant throw by the shortstop. 

LSUE pitching would give up the lead in the next half inning, but the offense would bail them out once again.  After a sacrifice fly by Brady Borque to tie the game, Chase Blanchard smoked an eventual game-winning triple into left centerfield that scored two runners.  Bengal closer Tyler Slocum ended any hopes of a comeback that the Spartans had in the bottom of the ninth. 

Elgin CC came out of the gates on fire.  After the second inning, the Spartans were already up 7-0, highlighted by a Bryan Mason single with the bases loaded that scored two runners.  The Spartans seemed to manufacture runs in whichever ways possible: sacrifice fly, wild pitch, and even barreling into the catcher to dislodge the ball from his glove.  The Spartans left two runners aboard, though, in the top of the eighth inning.  

May 24, 2008
Game 4
LSU-Eunice Uses Power, Pitching To
Down Des Moines 7-4

MILLINGTON, Tenn. – LSU-Eunice (49-12) blasted three home runs in the bottom of the first inning to catapult the Bengals to a 7-4 victory over Des Moines Area CC (48-17) in the final game of the first day in the 2008 NJCAA Division II World Series.  The ace of the Bengal staff, Ryan Boudreaux, gave a strong performance, going 8 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts and four earned runs, all in the ninth inning. 

LSU-Eunice wasted no time getting on the scoreboard by piling up four runs, all via home runs, in the first inning.  Boomer Blanchard led of the inning with a shot over the left field wall.  With two outs, Kellen Bozeman took a fastball over almost the identical spot of the fence that his teammate’s home run traveled.  After a Tyler Slocum double, Perry Smith crushed the third home run over the left field fence to give the Bengals an early 4-0 lead.  The Bengals added several necessary runs later in the game to stave off a late Bear rally.

Des Moines looked completely outmatched by Boudreaux until their backs were completely against the wall.  Down 7-0 with one out in the ninth inning, the Bears started their rally.  The Bears strung together four hits in a row, including a Jamie Schleifer double, and scored four runs in a span of six batters to pull the game to within one swing of the bat.  Unfortunately for the Bears, Josh Bailey of the Bengals shut the door on the rally with a strikeout to end the game.

With the win, LSU-Eunice advances to the 7:30 p.m. game tomorrow night against Elgin CC.  Des Moines Area CC moves on to play defending champion Longview CC Sunday at noon at USA Stadium in Millington , Tenn.