Early runs push Bengals to second consecutive win over Murray State
Box Score The LSU Eunice baseball team jumped on the board early for the second day in a row en route to a 7-1 victory over visiting Murray State College on Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday, the Bengals (18-4) plated a single run in the first inning before a four-run second frame to jump out to the advantage. Murray State (15-6) would score their only run in the top of the fifth, but LSU Eunice would add two final runs in the sixth to finish the afternoon's scoring.
"We had some two out base hits in the first and second innings that got some runs on the board. We preach to our guys about getting two-out base hits and two out RBIs," head coach Jeff Willis said.
The Bengals finished with seven hits and were aided by five Murray State errors, with all of the errors coming in innings where LSU Eunice scored.
Right-hander Hayden Barnett earned his first win of the season after tossing four innings, allowing two hits, three walks and hitting three batters while striking out two. He worked out of a pair of jams, leaving the bases loaded for Murray State in both the first and third innings.
At the plate, Mason Nickens and Derek Herrington each finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, as Stefan Trosclair (1-3) also drove in two RBIs while Brennan Bozeman and Tyler Chapman both tallied a hit in the win.
Bozeman led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on an errant throw before scoring the opening run on Trosclair's RBI sacrifice fly later in the frame.
The Bengals used two hits and two Murray State errors in their four-run second inning, with Herrington picking up an RBI on his fielder's choice ground ball before he reached on the wild throw and a second LSU Eunice run crossed the plate. Nickens and Trosclair each collected RBI singles in the later in the frame to extend the lead to 5-0.
Murray State strung together three consecutive hits to begin the fifth and score their only run before the Bengals responded in the sixth when Herrington notched an RBI single and later scored on an error.
LSU Eunice and Murray State conclude their three-game weekend series tomorrow afternoon with a 1 p.m. game time.
"Nothing is going to carry over. We have to reset, and I'd like to see a little better offensive output. We need our pitchers to set the tone again tomorrow and our hitters to get back to where they were Friday night," Willis said.
Tomorrow's game can be seen on Bengal All-Access and heard on KVPI 1050 AM.
