Bengals Fall to Gulf Coast
PERKINSTON, MISS – The LSU Eunice Bengal baseball team suffered two losses at the hands of Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was the first back-to-back defeats the second-ranked Bengals faced this season.
Gulf Coast (5-3) handed the Bengals a 14-8 loss in the first game of double header action and then slipped past the Bengals 6-4 in the second contest.
In game one, LSUE (10-3), Gulf Coast pulled out to 12-2 lead. LSUE rallied in the final three innings, scoring six runs, but the offensive attack of the Bulldogs held the Bengals a bay. Despite recording 15 hits in the game, the Bengals allowed 17.
Jordan Bourque had a pair of RBIs in the seventh inning and Zach Kirksey had two RBIs in the ninth inning. Kirksey finished 3-for-5 and Les Aulds went 2-for-3, while Trey Watkins was 2-for-4.
Brandon Anderson suffered his second loss on the mound for the Bengals. Colby Broussard and Mitchell Hopkins relieved Anderson in the final five innings, strike out nine batters between them.
In the second game of the doubleheader, exploded out of the gate, scoring four runs in the first. Kirksey’s triple to right center field drove in Watkins and Seth Granger and Aulds. Kirksey scored on sacrifce fly by Brook Bourdreaux.
The Bulldogs added a run in the bottom of third and then scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead.
LSUE tried to rally in the top of the seventh when Caleb Clowers double to left field and tying run reached base when Watkins walked. But stike outs by Clint Ourso and Bourque and Granger grounded out send LSUE home with their third loss.
The Bengals will continue their stretch of road games with a doubleheader at East Central Mississippi Community College on Saturday the 28th, followed by a doubleheader at Mississippi Delta Community College on Sunday March 1st.
In earlier games, LSUE swept Mississippi Delta and fell of Panola.
=====
