Box Score ELLISVILLE, Mississippi – The LSU Eunice Bengals suffered a 6-2 loss to Hinds Community College Wednesday in the first game of the NJCAA Division II Region 23 baseball tournament held at Jones County Junior College.
The No.4 seeded Eagles (31-16) scored first in the top of the second inning when Elijah Nelson Nelson singled, advanced on a balk, stole third and scored on a ground-out by Will Pierce.
The No. 3 Bengals (45-10) tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when
Hunter Feduccia (Barbe) singled, stole second, advanced on an error and scored on a single by
Gabe Hannum (Zachary).
Hinds pushed across two runs in the top of the fifth, begun when Pierce singled and scored when Braedon Barret reached on a fielder's choice.
Craft reached on an error and scored on a double by Jackson Mitchell to give Hinds a 3-1 advantage.
Hinds exploded for three runs in the top of the sixth to put the game out of reach, begun as Nelson reached on an error and scored on a double by Quinton Owen.
Pierce reached on a fielder's choice and scored on a hit by Will Craft, while Owen scored on a sacrifice by Barrett to push the Eagles' lead to 6-1.
LSUE closed the gap to 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth when
Gavin Bourgeois (Notre Dame) singled and later scored on a wild pitch.
The Bengals threatened in the bottom of the ninth inning when Hannum singled, advanced on a wild pitch but was left stranded as the game ended.
Braxton Smith (Orangefield) (7-4) suffered the loss as he pitched six innings with seven strikeouts, two walks and allowed four earned runs on six hits.
LSUE recorded nine hits, led by Bourgeois (2-for-4, RS), Feduccia (2-for-4, RS) and Hannum (2-for-4, RBI).
The Bengals will take on Northwest Mississippi Community College (32-17) at 3 p.m. today, needing a win to stay alive in the regional tournament.
Northwest best East Central 8-1 behind a complete-game performance by pitcher Jarod Wright as the Rangers won their first regional opening game since 2007.
