Lady Bengals beat Jones County, advance to play Phoenix Friday night
The LSU Eunice softball team won their opening game of the day in the NJCAA National Championship Tournament with a 8-2 victory over Jones County Junior College to advance to play at 4 p.m. later Friday afternoon.
The Lady Bengals (60-5) used three home runs to push past Jones County in the fourth meeting in a week between the two Region 23 foes.
“It was a really good win, and a win we needed to have a chance in this tournament. They got up early but our girls responded with the two-run homer and you saw the momentum shift,” head coach Andy Lee said.
LSU Eunice advances to take on Phoenix College, who advanced with a 2-1 victory over Kirkwood Community College earlier Friday.
The meeting will mark a rematch of last year’s national tournament final that saw Phoenix take two wins over the Lady Bengals to claim the title.
Tonight’s winner will move to the championship game tomorrow afternoon, while the loser will have to win three games tomorrow to win the title.
“I think these girls are ready and we are excited. We are playing well right now and hopefully can keep this momentum going,” Lee said.
Against Jones County, the Lady Bengals saw their opponents score a run in the top of the first before Kelsey Hollier sent a towering two-run homer down the left field line to give LSU Eunice a lead they would never give up.
They pushed the lead higher in the third inning with a solo home run by Taylor Simon before Codi Covington’s two-run homer was part of a three-run fourth inning to push the lead to 6-1.
Jones added a run in the top of the fifth, but that would be as close as they would get, as the Lady Bengals added two final runs in in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from Hollier and on a fielder’s choice for the final score.
Hollier and Covington each finished with two hits, with Hollier collecting three RBIs and Covington drving home two of her own.
Simon (1-3) added two RBIs, while Brooke Thomas, Emily Nolan and Pam Wainwright each added a hit as well.
Elizabth Delafield earned the win for the Lady Bengals, tossing 4 1/3 innings and allowing four hits and two runs (one earned) before Julienne Broussard struck out five batters over the final 2 2/3 innings to seal the win.
Tonight’s game against Phoenix College can be seen on NJCAA TV.
