Gonzales strikes out 15 in first collegiate start
Box Score
In his first collegiate start, freshman Gerry Gonzales struck out 15 batters in the longest outing of any LSU Eunice starter this season as the Bengals took the second game of their series against Triton Community College with a 9-3 win on Wednesday night.
Gonzales, who had three total innings of work in three appearances coming into his start, tossed 8 2/3 innings and allowed five hits and three runs while walking one along with the 15 strikeouts.
“Outstanding pitching performance by Gerry. What’s good about this game is when guys get opportunities, they lead to other opportunities,” head coach Jeff Willis said.
“Gerry pitched his rear off and was really good and was one of the better outings we’ve had from any of our pitchers this year. That outing right there can help us throughout the season and down the road as well.”
Offensively, the Bengals (23-3) scored three runs in the first and eighth innings, a single run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth inning for their total.
Triton (1-11) collected three of their five hits in the ninth when they plated a pair of runs after first scoring in the fifth inning.
Stefan Trosclair was the only Bengal to tally multiple hits, finishing with a pair of singles, as seven other batters tallied a hit.
C.J. Womack doubled in his lone at-bat as part of the three-run eighth, while Derek Herrington finished with an RBI triple that came in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Casey Rodrigue added an RBI, three stolen bases and he scored three times to go along with his hit and walk, while Adam Cagnina, Garrett Deschamp, Keagan Kratzer andKyle St. Pierre also notched a hit.
Trosclair’s RBI single in the bottom of the first opened the scoring before Deschamp’s sacrifice fly scored him three batters later. Herrington picked up an RBI with his own sacrifice fly later in the inning to push the hosts to the three-run lead.
Herrington drove home the fourth LSU Eunice run of the night with his two-out RBI triple in the fifth to plate Deschamp before Rodrigue and Trosclair both scored on wild pitches in the sixth inning.
Womack’s double helped start the three run eighth, which saw RBI singles by Trosclair and Cagnina as well.
The Bengals wrap up their series with Triton tomorrow night with a 6 p.m. first pitch.
Tomorrow’s game can be seen on Bengal All-Access.
