COLUMBUS, Ga. – LSU Eunice tallied a trio of wins on Saturday to set up a Championship Game appearance in the NFCA Lead-Off Classic in Columbus, Ga.  It's the Bengals' (23-4) first appearance in the prestigious tournament's title game since winning the event in 2014.
 
LSUE ended pool play in the morning with a 3-1 win over San Jacinto.  The Bengals opened up the Gold Bracket with a 7-4 victory over Indian River State, followed by a semifinal 4-3 win against Gulf Coast State College.
 
The Bengals will wrap up play with the Championship Game against undefeated and NJCAA Division I number one Florida Southwestern State College.  It will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
 
The game can be heard live on the Bayou Sports Network with Randy Guillory on the call.
 
Game 1 vs. San Jacinto College- W, 3-1
Jensen Howell connected on a pinch-hit bases loaded double to plate all three runs LSUE would need in a 3-1 win over San Jacinto College.  It's the third meeting of the year with the Coyotes with LSUE taking the last two.
 
Howell came on in the fifth inning for the go-ahead base hit after San Jacinto walked the bases loaded.  The double erased a 1-0 deficit after San Jacinto had taken the lead an inning earlier thanks to a wild pitch to score a run.
 
The Bengals were held to just five hits on the game, striking out ten times.  Lauren Parson held the Coyote bats at bat, picking up her third win (3-1) of the season in 5.2 innings of work.  Parson scattered one earned run on five hits and three walks while striking out three batters.
 
Heather Zumo picked up the save throwing 1.1 innings of hitless relief.
 
Game 2 vs. Indian River State College – W, 7-4
LSU Eunice used a four-run fourth inning to help guide the Bengals to a 7-4 win over Indian River State College.  The Bengals would jump out to a six-run lead before holding on late to preserve the victory.
 
Sara Tate opened the game up in the fourth inning with a two-run single, followed a batter later by Madison Monson's liner that scored a run thanks to a Pioneer error.  Jennifer Perkins drove in the other run of the critical frame, sacrificing in Hannah Smith.
 
Tate and Mallory Little produced multi-hit games in the nine-hit LSUE attack.  Little drove in the first run of the game with line drive to right field in the first inning to plate Tate.
 
Jensen Howell would navigate a rocky fifth inning to improve to 9-2 on the season. The sophomore pitched six innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on ten hits and two walks while striking out seven batters.  Heather Zumo grabbed the save with a perfect seventh inning, striking out a pair.
 
Game 3 vs. Gulf Coast State College – W, 4-3
A perfectly executed double steal on a first-and-third situation helped LSUE take down Gulf Coast State, 4-3, to punch its ticket to the NFCA Lead-Off Classic Championship Game. 
 
After Kennedy Smith pinch-ran for Abbey Higginbotham, the freshman advanced to third on a wild pitch and stolen base.  After Lele Martinez would walk, the two rookies would steal with Smith crossing home to give the Bengals the lead back in the sixth inning.
 
Jensen Howell would sit down the Commordores in order in the seventh to pick up the win, improving to 10-2.  Howell tossed three one-hit innings, striking out four batters.  She came in relief of Heather Zumo after Gulf Coast College struck for all three of its runs in the fourth inning.
 
The duo held Gulf Coast College in check for the majority of the game, only allowing two base runners in scoring position outside of that fourth inning.
 
LSUE would tie the game in the bottom half of the fourth after Lele Martinez used a sacrifice fly to plate Abbey Higginbotham.
 
Howell gave LSUE the early edge with a 2-run single in the third inning.  Sara Tate was the lone multi-hit game in the Bengals' four-hit offense.