LSU Eunice swept four games at the Pearl River Tournament over the weekend and knocked off the defending national champions.
In tGame 1, freshman pitcher Leah Andrus fired a shutout, and the Lady Bengals’ bats came alive, scoring at will for an 11-0 win over East Mississippi. Rain postponed the Lady Bengals 2nd game of the tournament, forcing 3 games of play on Saturday.
First up on Saturday was the defending national champion Heartland Hawks, who jumped out to an early 2-0 lead which held up until the 6th inning when the Lady Bengals scored 2 to tie the game. In a flurry of activity in the 7th, the Hawks scored 3 but the Lady Bengals answered with 4 in the bottom half, highlighted by a 2 out bases loaded delayed steal of home to take the 6-5 win.
The host Pearl River Lady Wildcats came next, with the Lady Bengals falling behind early again, as the Lady Wildcats scored 1 in the 1st inning. A back and forth struggle ensued, with 2 additional lead changes until the Lady Bengals scored 7 in the 4th, hanging on for the 8-5 win.
The Itawamba Lady Indians was the final challenge of the weekend and the Lady Indians jumped out to an early lead on the strength of a 2 run homerun by CeCee Austin. LSU Eunice worked their way back with 1 run in the 2nd, then taking the lead with 3 runs in the 3rd. The Lady Bengals pitching staff settled down after the 2 run blast in the 1st, blanking the Lady Indians for the next 3 innings until Itawamba scored 3 in the 5th to tie the game. The game remained tied until the top of the 7th when the Lady Bengals took the lead with 1 run then held off the Lady Indians for the 6-5 win. The Lady Bengals stand at 17-3 on the season.
