POPLARVILLE, Ms. – LSU Eunice continued its hot start to the 2019 season with a pair of victories in the final day of the Wildcat Invitational on the campus of Pearl River CC on Saturday.  The Bengals (11-2) picked up a second straight weekend of a four-pack of wins to push their win streak to nine games.
 
LSU Eunice used a six-run inning to push past Marion Military 9-1, followed by a well-rounded 3-0 win over Mississippi Gulf Coast CC.
 
The Bengals' road swing continues Tuesday, February 12 with a pair of games at the SMCC Softball Coke Challenge.  LSUE will tackle Copiah-Lincoln at 5:00PM, followed by the host team Southwest Mississippi CC.
 
Marion Military Institute – W, 9-1
 
A six-run fifth inning helped LSUE mount a late surge and take a 9-1 mercy rule win over Marion Military in six innings.
 
The Bengals clung to a slim 2-1 margin entering the fifth before LSUE broke the game open.  The first five batters reached base safely in the fifth, headlined by Sara Tate's (Bayou Chicot, LA, Pine Prairie HS) RBI single and a two-run double from Abby Trahan (Hackberry, LA, Hackberry HS).  Jensen Howell (Alexandria, LA, Holy Savior Menard HS) would drive in a pair of runs on a single to right, followed by a two-out RBI by Jennifer Perkins (Lake Charles, LA, Barbe HS) to extend the LSUE lead to 8-1.
 
Trahan would sacrifice home a run an inning later to put the Bengals in range for a run-rule victory.
 
Howell began the scoring for LSUE with a two-run double in the first inning before Marion Military responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame.  Howell was the lone Bengal to record a multi-hit game, driving in a season's best four RBIs in the game.
 
Heather Zumo (Baton Rouge, LA, Central HS) (5-0) stayed perfect on the season after tossing five innings, giving up one unearned run off four hits while striking out seven.  Jeanne Trahan would pitch a perfect inning of relief.
 
Mississippi Gulf Coast CC – W, 3-0
 
Jensen Howell tossed her third complete game of the early season as a trio of critical hits helped LSUE take down Mississippi Gulf Coast CC, 3-0.
 
Howell (4-1) scattered four hits in the shutout while striking out seven and not issuing a walk.  The sophomore sat the Bulldogs in order three times.
 
Mallory Little (Opelousas, LA, Opelousas Catholic HS) connected on a two-out double to put LSUE on the board in the third, scoring Sara Tate.  It was the freshman's team's best fifth double of the season.
 
An inning later, Hannah Carpenter (Friendswood, TX, Friendswood HS) began the fourth with a solo home run to left field followed by Hannah Smith's (Lafayette, LA, Catholic-New Iberia HS) first home run of the season.  Smith's solo homer came as a valuable insurance run in the seventh inning.
 
Little and Carpenter each had a pair of hits in the Bengals' six-hit outing.