Freshmen pitchers shine in Lady Bengals' Tuesday doubleheader victories
The LSU Eunice softball team saw its freshmen pitchers hold visiting Faulkner State Community College to three hits in a Tuesday afternoon doubleheader sweep, winning game one 8-0 before a 5-0 victory in game two.
Destin Vicknair earned her 16th victory of the year in game one, allowing just one hit and striking out five batters before Raven Cole notched win No. 16 of her own in the second game, giving up two hits and five walks while tallying five strikeouts. The two are now tied for the second-most victories in the country, one behind the national leader.
The duo combined to throw 175 pitches in the doubleheader, including 67 percent of those pitches for a strike (117 pitches) while throwing a first-pitch strike to 29 of the 50 total Faulkner State batters (58 percent).
Cole's eight strikeouts move her into a tie for the most strikeouts in the country this season with 129, while Vicknair now has 86 strikeouts of her own, the third-most in the country.
"The pitchers attacked the strike zone as always. To throw two shutouts against a team with 20-some wins coming in is something special. I thought they were really the difference today," head coach Andy Lee said.
In the opener, the Lady Bengals (37-1) posted two runs in the first inning to jump ahead of Faulkner State (21-19) and never looked back, adding two more runs in the third, a single run in the fifth and three final runs in the sixth inning.
Taylor Boulet finished 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI, while Vicknair added a perfect 3-for-3 mark with two RBIs of her own. Cole added a pinch-hit, two run double, while Dani Cruickshank (1-3) added an RBI and Emily Nolan (0-2) drove home two RBIs. Brooke Clark also finished with a hit.
Nolan brought home the first run via her sacrifice fly before Vicknair followed moments later with an RBI single to get the hosts on the scoreboard.
Vicknair collected her second RBI single in the third as Cruickshank also connected on an RBI single in the frame to push the lead to four before Nolan's RBI groundout in the fifth inning.
Cole delivered her pinch-hit, two-run double in the sixth before Boulet capped off her four hit game with an RBI double later in the frame.
The second game saw Boulet continue to stay hot at the plate, finishing 3-for-4, while Clark added two hits and two RBIs. Codi Covington and Nolan each tallied a hit and an RBI, while Vicknair, Cruickshank and Katie Flowers each finished with a hit.
Clark singled and scored via a passed ball in the first inning to give the Lady Bengals the lead before she connected on a two-run single in the fifth to extend the advantage.
Nolan would add an RBI single moments later to plate Clark before Covington's sacrifice fly brought home Cruickshank, who tripled to lead off the inning, in the sixth to give the game its final score.
The Lady Bengals and Faulkner State square off again on Wednesday afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. that can be seen on Bengal All-Access.
