Lady Bengals capture Region 23 Championship with three wins on day
The LSU Eunice softball team won three consecutive elimination games on Saturday to capture the NJCAA Region 23 Championship and clinch a spot in next week’s NJCAA National Tournament.
The wins gave the Lady Bengals (57-5) their third consecutive Region 23 title.
“These girls fought. They wanted it. We are banged up and tired, but we showed our heart and a lot of character and I am extremely proud of those girls,” head coach Andy Lee said.
“We need a little rest, we’ve played six games in three days. This was a challenge today. We have to win three elimination games and we did it,” Lee added.
Lee was named Region 23 Coach of the Year after the game as well.
LSU Eunice won an early morning game over Pearl River Community College by an 8-0 score to earn a spot in the national tournament, as the top two Region 23 teams qualify.
However, LSU Eunice had unfinished business to settle with Jones County Junior College, who sent the Lady Bengals to the losers bracket on Friday night.
A 6-0 win in their first game of the day against Jones forced one final game, before LSU Eunice 10-4 victory to grab the regional title.
Over the three games on Saturday, the Lady Bengals connected for five home runs, including two in the championship game from Brooke Clark and two more from Ashley Subervielle. Emily Nolan added a homer of her own, a massive three-run shot against Pearl River that started the day’s scoring.
For the three day tournament, the Lady Bengals connected on 13 total home runs, including five from Clark (8 total RBI), three from Nolan (5 total RBI), two from Kelsey Hollier (5 total RBI), two from Subervielle (3 total RBI), and one from Taylor Simon (1 RBI).
Exactly half of their 44 runs in the tournament (22) came off of home runs.
LSU Eunice now waits to see where they will be seeded in the national tournament, who their opening opponent will be and what time their game will be when they begin play on Wednesday.
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The championship game saw a close contest broken open by the Lady Bengals with back-to-back homers, a three-run blast from Clark and a solo shot Subervielle, in the top of the fifth inning that gave LSU Eunice a 7-1 advantage.
Jones County responded with a two-run homer of their own in the bottom of the fifth, but Elizabeth Delafield came on in relief to slam the door over the final two innings to grab the win.
LSU Eunice took an early lead in the top of the second on an RBI single from Pam Wainwright that was answered in the bottom of the frame by Jones County.
In the third, the lady Bengals took a one-run lead on an error before an RBI single by Clark.
The score stayed that way until the fifth when LSU Eunice used the back-to back homers.
Jones County’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth cut the deficit to four before the Lady Bengals used an RBI single from Brooke Thomas to extend the lead in the sixth and Clark’s second homer, this time a two-run shot, in the seventh to push the game out of reach.
Brooklyn Guillot earned the win in the clinching game, tossing four innings and allowing four hits, three runs (two earned) and one walk while striking out one batter.
Delafield closed out the final three innings, allowing just two hits and one run.
Thomas, Clark and Codi Covington each finished with three hits in the game, with Clark racking up six RBI in the clincher.
In their first game against Jones County, the Lady Bengals never trailed, tallying a run in the top of the first inning when Simon doubled and scored on an RBI single by Nolan.
The double was Simon’s 26th of the season, giving her the all-time program record for most doubles in a single season, a mark that was previously held by Sloan Laiche and set in the program’s inaugural 2006 season.
LSU Eunice added three runs in the fifth inning on back-to-back doubles, first on Subervielle’s two-run double to right-center field that was followed by Wainwright’s double off the wall in left field to plate Subervielle.
The Lady Bengals added two more runs in the seventh on Subervielle’s two-run homer to straight away center field.
Simon finished the game with three hits (two doubles), while Subervielle (4 RBI) and Wainwright had two hits each.
Delafield earned the win in the circle, tossing seven shutout innings while scattering seven hits and walking two with one strikeout.
LSU Eunice’s first test of the day against Pearl River was answered with a five-inning win, highlighted by Nolan’s three-run homer in the third inning.
Simon doubled later in the inning to give the Lady Bengals a four-run lead before they plated four more runs in the fourth inning, using a Simon RBI single, an error and a pair of walks to seal the game.
Julienne Broussard earned the win, throwing five innings and allowing only three hits while walking two and striking out two batters.
