Lady Bengals push start out to 15-0 with doubleheader sweep Saturday
The LSU Eunice softball team swept visiting Coffeyville Community College on Saturday afternoon, taking game one 9-1 before a 6-2 win in the second game.
The No. 1-ranked Lady Bengals improve to 15-0 to open 2014 and are 10-o at home this season.
"Pitching is the name of the game. Our girls are doing nothing but going up there, throwing strikes and getting people out. Our offense has been sluggish and our defense hasn't been up to par but our pitching has kept us in the games," head coach Andy Lee said.
In the opening game, sophomore Brooke Clark and freshman Destin Vicknair each notched two hits and two RBIs, with Clark tallying two doubles while Vicknair finished with a double and a two-run homer.
Freshman Taylor Boulet added a hit and RBI, while sophomores Codi Covington and Emily Nolan each tallied a hit each.
Freshman Raven Cole earned the win in the circle, tossing five innings and allowing just one hit and one unearned run with five walks and 10 strikeouts.
The Lady Bengals jumped ahead early and never looked back, scoring four runs in the first innings on Boulet's RBI single and Clark's RBI double before Vicknair sent a two-run homer over the wall in dead center field.
After Coffeyville scored its only run of the game in the top of the third inning, LSU Eunice plated a run in the bottom of the frame when Nolan scored on a passed ball. They pushed the lead higher in the fourth with Clark's second BRI double and a Coffeyville error helping to score two more runs before a final error from the visitors ended the game in the bottom of the fifth.
The second game saw the Lady Bengals send 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning as they posted all six runs in the frame.
Covington (double) and freshman Dani Cruickshank each notched two hits, while Clark added an RBI triple. Boulet and fellow freshmen Ginny Daggett and Abby Ohlin each added one hit, as Nolan (0-3) added an RBI as well.
Sophomore Elizabeth Delafield earned the win after tossing four innings in relief, allowing just one unearned run and three walks while strikeout out four batters. Vicknair allowed one hit and one unearned run while walking two and striking out four batters over the first three innings.
In that first inning, Covington scored the opening run on a passed ball before Clark collected her RBI triple and Nolan added to the lead with a run-scoring groundout. Cruickshank delivered an RBI single before Ohlin singled and another run scored. Covington capped off the scoring with an RBI single in her second at-bat of the frame.
Coffeyville scored their first run in the top of the third inning on a passed ball before their second run came in the sixth off of a Lady Bengal error.
LSU Eunice now gets ready for its trip to Columbus, Ga. to play in the NFCA Leadoff Classic.
"You are going to see 20 of the best NJCAA teams in the nation. It's an invite-only tournament, and I believe all those teams are ranked in the polls. I am excited. It will be a great benchmark of how we work and how we'll be the rest of the season," Lee said.
Pool play begins on Friday with the Lady Bengals taking on Indian Hills College and Pasco-Hernando State College in day one action.
