POPLARVILLE, Miss. – After enduring a 17-day layoff, LSU Eunice added a few more hours before finally getting back to action in the Region 23 Baseball Tournament.
 
It was worth the wait.
 
LSUE used a dominant effort in relief and timely hits to score an 8-5 victory over East Central on Monday at Dub Herring Stadium on the campus of Pearl River CC.  The Bengals' opener was delayed six hours after inclement weather threw a wrench into the opening day of the six-team tournament.
 
The Bengals showed no signs of rust early, jumping out to a 4-1 first inning lead.  After East Central plated the first run of the game on sacrifice grounder, LSUE jumped ahead using three hits, a walk and a hit by pitch.  Jack Merrifield (Prairieville, LA, Dutchtown HS) started the scoring with a RBI double, followed by a wild pitch scoring a run and a Hunter Tabb (Scott, LA, Acadiana HS) sacrifice fly.  Thomas Steven closed the frame with a RBI single.
 
The Warriors crept back with three runs in the third and a run in the fourth to tie things up at 5-5.
 
The second half of the game belonged to the Bengals and Austin Andrishok (Baton Rouge, LA, Catholic-Baton Rouge HS).  The lefty reliever tossed three scoreless frames including four strikeouts and a walk.  Andrishok (6-0) provided an exclamation point on the night with a bases loaded, two-out full count punchout.
 
The 'controlled chaos' of the Bengals on the base paths would help LSUE go up for good.  LSUE would regain the lead after Scott Jones (Sulphur, LA, Sulphur HS) knocked a one-out single then stealing a pair of bases.  After a pick-off attempt, Jones would score from third after the throw to home bounced off Jones' helmet.  Thomas Stevens (Crowley, LA, Notre Dame HS) would also swipe a pair of bases before putting LSUE up 7-5 on a passed ball.
 
Hunter Tabb added another sacrifice RBI in the seventh for the final run of the game.  Tabb drove in two RBIs for the night, while Jones and Jack Merrifield enjoyed multi-hit games in the 8-hit output.
 
Jacob Hammond (Monroe, LA, Ouachita HS) picked up his fifth save of the season, tossing a scoreless ninth with a strikeout and a walk.
 
LSUE now awaits the winner of the Pearl River CC-Hinds CC game that will be played tomorrow.  Officials backed the tournament up a day after spotty rain throughout the day.  The Bengals' winner's bracket game will get started at 7:00PM on Wednesday.