EUNICE, La. – LSU Eunice saw a three-run lead evaporate late as the Bengals fell to Panola College, 6-5, to close out the weekend series on Sunday at Bengal Stadium.
The Bengals (25-9) would build a 4-1 lead more through five innings using a fourth inning Cole Romero two-run single to take a 2-1 edge. After Peyton LeJeune added a run later in the inning on a sacrifice grounder, the Bengals would push another across in the sixth on a first-and-third double steal.
Panola would chip away in the sixth, scoring on a sacrifice fly before loading the bases and chasing starter Brendan Moody. Drew Lasseigne would minimize the damage with a ground out that scored a run before retiring the side, cutting the LSUE lead to 4-3.
The Ponies would strike for three more runs an inning later using three hits, an error and two wild pitches to take a 6-4 lead.
The Bengals seemed poised to respond right away in the bottom half of the seventh. Kole Myers would score Brandon Mooney on an RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-5, but the Bengals would leave two runners in scoring position stranded.
After LSUE would escape a bases loaded jam in the top of the eighth, the Bengals would have two separate chances to tie or take the lead. In the eighth, a lead off single was negated after a double play on a pop-up bunt. The tying run in the ninth was left stranded at third with back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
The freshmen duo of Reed Eason and Parker Coley were the lone Bengals to post multi-hit games, accounting for five of the team's nine hits.
