BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU Eunice received a pair of stellar outings by sophomores Sara Tate and Jensen Howell in a Wednesday road doubleheader sweep at Baton Rouge CC. LSUE (42-6) defeated BRCC for the seventh time this season.
Tate accounted for eight RBIs including two of her three home runs of the day in the Bengals' 12-6 Game One opening victory. Howell tossed her first no-hitter as LSUE roared past the Bears 15-1 in the finale.
LSUE would blast eight home runs in the twin bill.
The two teams are scheduled to meet again, Saturday April 27 in Eunice. LSUE's two home series this week have been cancelled with both Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (April 18) and Pearl River CC (April 19) not coming to town. Stay tuned to LSUE's social media accounts and www.lsuebengals.net as possible make-up dates or additional games may be announced.
Game 1 vs. Baton Rouge CC – W, 12-6
LSUE scored eight runs in the final three innings to push past BRCC in a 12-6 win. Sara Tate would lead the way offensively, pounding a pair of home runs on her way to a four RBI contest, scoring three runs and stealing three bases.
Tate's first long ball would give LsUE the lead for good after falling behind 2-1 in the first innings. Kelci Bodin's RBI single tied the game up before Tate's blast to left gave LSUE a 4-2 edge.
The Bengals would hold on to a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning before pushing ahead thanks to two round trippers. Hannah Smith knocked a solo home run followed by a two-run home run by Tate later in the frame. Lele Martinez accounted for the other run scored in the frame with a RBI single.
Smith would score off a Rylie Candella double in the sixth with Candella coming home on a Lexi-Jo Debarge RBI single to make it 10-3 LSUE.
Following three BRCC runs in the sixth, the Bengals capped off the win with a Madison Monson solo home run and another Candella RBI single.
Lexi-Jo DeBarge paced the LSUE offense with a three-hit game with Tate and Candella also enjoying multi-hit contests. The Bengals would run wild on the basepaths, accounting for nine stolen bases.
While the offense caught fire, Heather Zumo continued her steady play. The sophomore improved to 16-2 on the season after throwing four innings, giving up three earned runs off five hits and not issuing a walk. Zumo struck out four batters. Lauren Parson would pick up a three inning save.
Game 2 vs. Baton Rouge CC – W, 15-1
Jensen Howell pitched the first no-hitter at LSU Eunice in more than four years as LSUE upended Baton Rouge CC, 15-1, in five innings. The last no-hitter tossed by a Bengal pitcher was on February 4, 2015 by Raven Cole in a 20-0 win against Pearl River CC.
Howell (W, 17-3) struck out eight of the first nine batters she faced on the way to a 12-strikeout performance. The sophomore did not issue a walk, while BRCC had three base runners reach on errors in the fourth inning.
LSUE struck for nine runs in the first inning which included a pair of two-run home runs by Lexi-Jo DeBarge and Hannah Smith. Sara Tate would add a Grand Slam in the second inning to pump up the Bengals' lead to 13-0 as LSUE emptied its bench.
Hannah Smith and Kennedy Smith would connect on back-to-back RBI doubles to end the scoring in the fourth inning.
Smith and Smith each enjoyed three-hit games with Hannah Smith driving in three RBis and scoring three times.
