WESSON, Ms. – It was a tale of two halves in the Region 23 Championship as an early advantage for LSU Eunice could not be held as the Bengals fell to Northwest Mississippi 9-2 on Sunday at Lady Wolves Field. The Bengals (35-20) will continue their season later this month at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in Oxford, Alabama.
The Bengals picked up where they left off from Saturday, jumping out to a 2-0 lead.
Ashlyn Roach (Calhoun, LA, West Ouachita HS) capitalized on a dropped fly ball to right field, scoring
Maddie Leal (Houston, TX, Spring HS) in the opening frame. An inning later,
Abby Touchet (Shreveport, LA, C.E. Byrd HS) muscled a double to left field that would score
Mikayla Cashdollar (Glenmora, LA, University Academy).
Chloe Bennett (Rosepine, LA, Rosepine HS) denied Northwest Mississippi a hit through the first three innings.
The fourth inning would see the game take a different turn.
The Rangers would load the bases on a single, walk and error followed by a two-strike grand slam to give Northwest the lead for good. The Rangers would add another run later in the inning to go up 5-2. LSUE would try to threaten in the bottom half of the frame but would leave two runners in scoring position.
The Rangers would add a pair of runs in the both the fifth and sixth innings while LSUE would be held hitless in that span.
Chloe Bennett was tagged with the loss after 3.1 innings of work. The freshman's three strikeouts would give Bennett 218 on the season, a new single-season record in LSU Eunice history. Bennett eclipsed former NJCAA Pitcher of the Year Raven Cole's mark of 217, set in 2015.
LSUE now awaits its seeding for the upcoming National Tournament, set for May 24-28 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.
