Long ball lifts Bengals to high-scoring Sunday afternoon win
Box Score The LSU Eunice baseball team came back from an early deficit to grab a 13-11 win in a back-and-forth game in the third and final game of their series against Murray State College on Sunday afternoon.
The Bengals (19-4) and Murray State (15-7) combined for six home runs, taking advantage of one of the rare times the wind blows out at Bengal Stadium.
LSU Eunice collected 17 total hits, including three home runs, as they responded from a 4-0 disadvantage with a single run in the third inning before two runs in the fourth, five runs in the fifth, three runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh innings.
"I thought our guys competed well at the plate and continued to battle back. We got down and our guys put up a big inning and got some big hits in that situation. We also had some guys come in out of the bullpen and threw really well in tough conditions to pitch in," head coach Jeff Willis said.
"It was a good college Sunday afternoon game with the wind blowing out and both teams battling back-and-forth and we were fortunate to come out on top."
Derek Herrington led the offense with three hits – two going out for home runs – and driving in five RBIs, while Brennan Bozeman (RBI), Gabe Roberts, Stefan Trosclair (homer, RBI), Tyler Chapman, Sam Walley and Madison Nickens (2 RBIs) all collected two hits each.
Ben LeBlanc, the fifth of seven Bengal pitchers used, earned his second win of the season after allowing four hits and one run in his two innings of relief before Walley notched his sixth save of the year following a perfect ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Murray State jumped on top with three runs in the top of the first via two hits and a Bengal error before adding a fourth run in the second frame.
LSU Eunice got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Herrington led off with a solo home run over the center field wall to cut the deficit before the visitors added to their lead with two runs in the top of the fourth via a hit and an error.
The Bengals again cut into the lead in the bottom of the fourth, scoring their first run of the frame on Herrington's RBI single before plating a second run on an error.
In the fifth inning, the teams continued to trade punches, with Murray State using three hits to plate two runs in the top of the inning before the Bengals used six hits of their own to score five runs and tie the game, highlighted by Trosclair's solo homer to open the frame, Nickens' RBI single and Herrington's second homer of the afternoon – a three-run shot over the wall in right field.
Again Murray State answered, regaining the lead by scoring two runs in the top of the sixth before LSU Eunice plated three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good via two runs scoring on wild pitches and the third on an RBI groundout by Nickens.
The Bengals added their final two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a balk and wild pitch, while Murray State plated a single run on two hits in the top of the eighth but would get no closer.
The Bengals are back in action next Saturday and Sunday when they welcome in-state foe Delgado Community College to town for a three-game series with a doubleheader Saturday before the finale Sunday afternoon.
During Saturday's doubleheader, the LSU Eunice Athletic Department will be holding the first Black Pot Cookoff. More information about the event can be found here.
Saturday's doubleheader can be seen on Bengal All-Access and heard on KVPI 92.5 FM.
