Lady Bengals drop pool play contest; advance in bracket play with night win
The LSU Eunice softball team split its two games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Saturday, falling in extra innings in their final game of the pool play round before advancing in the bracket round later in the afternoon.
The Lady Bengals (18-1) lost their first game of the season after seeing Blinn College come from behind for a walkoff, 7-6 win in the teams' third and final pool play game, while LSU Eunice advanced in bracket play following an 8-3 victory over Lake Land College Saturday night.
Despite the morning loss, the Lady Bengals finished 2-1 in pool play and were slotted in the Gold Bracket for the bracket round – the highest of the three brackets (Gold, Silver, Bronze) the tournament teams were slotted into.
With the win against Lake Land, LSU Eunice advances to take on San Jacinto at 11 a.m. eastern (10 a.m. central) on Sunday morning.
"The Blinn game, we played well. We built a 6-2 lead and then we made plays we don't typically do. We made some mistakes and bad pitches late, but it was a good learning experience," head coach Andy Lee said.
"When we played the first game of bracket play, we didn't make those mistakes and we beat them. I like where we are at. We are playing great teams and seeing great pitching, and all it's going to do is make us better."
Against Blinn, the Lady Bengals jumped ahead to a 6-1 lead before Blinn plated two runs in the fourth inning and three runs in the sixth to tie the game before winning in the bottom of the seventh.
Emily Nolan and Raven Cole each finished with two hits, while Codi Covington, Taylor Boulet, Brooke Clark, Destin Vicknair, Ashley Subervielle and Morgan Tauzin each notched one hit.
Boulet, Nolan, Covington and Tauzin all collected doubles, while Vicknair knocked a home run as she, Nolan and Covington each tallied two RBIs.
Cole was saddled with the loss after tossing 2 1/3 innings of relief, allowing four hits and four runs (three earned) and a home run while walking two and striking out one batter.
Vicknair allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and one walk, striking out three batters over the first 4 1/3 innings.
After Blinn scored the opening run on the bottom of the first, LSU Eunice responded with four runs in the top of the second inning via Vicknair's two-run homer to center field and Covington's two-run double.
The Lady Bengals extended the lead with Nolan's two-run double in the fourth before Blinn cut into the lead with two runs off of an error and a fielder's choice in the fourth before tying the game in the sixth with a two-run homer and an RBI single. Blinn won the game with a two-out single to score the winning run from second base in the bottom of the seventh.
Against Lake Land, LSU Eunice used a five-run third inning to re-take the lead and never look back, advancing in the bracket play.
The Lady Bengals struck first with a run in the top of the opening inning before Lake Land took the lead with a two-run second inning. LSU Eunice responded with the five-run third before adding single runs in the fourth and sixth frames.
Nolan finished with three hits and four RBIs, while Cole added two hits. Boulet, Ginny Daggett, Dani Cruickshank, Clark and Vicknair all notched one hit, with Vicknair tallying two RBIs and Clark adding an RBI.
Vicknair earned the win in the circle, tossing a seven-hit complete game, allowing three runs (one earned) while striking out nine batters.
Nolan's RBI double got the scoring started in the top of the first inning before lake land took the lead off of an LSU Eunice error to plate two runs in the second. In the third, Clark tied the game with her run-scoring ground out, while Nolan added two RBIs with single and Vicknair sent a two-run homer over the wall in center field.
Lake Land used an RBI double to cut into the lead in the fourth before the Lady Bengals plated a final run in the sixth when Nolan reached on an error to give the game its' final score.
LSU Eunice takes on San Jacinto at 11 a.m. eastern (10 a.m. central) tomorrow morning, with the winner advancing to play in the gold bracket's championship game, which is slated for a 1 p.m. eastern start.
Tomorrow's game against San Jacinto can be seen on Bengal All-Access.
