Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ELLISVILLE, Ms. – LSU Eunice softball fought through a pair of games Saturday to stay alive in the Region 23 Tournament on the campus of Jones College.  The Bengals (41-19) face off with Pearl River CC on Sunday in an elimination game at 1:30PM after the Wildcats eliminated Northwest Mississippi in eight innings.
 
LSUE fought to the finish but fell short against Jones College 4-2 to start the day but rallied in impressive fashion for a 12-3 blowout of Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Gabrielle Huetter (Magnolia, TX, Magnolia HS) was the top bat of the day, driving in four RBIs.
 
The Bengals will have to play and win another doubleheader on Sunday to clinch an automatic berth into the NJCAA National Tournament later this month in South Carolina.
 
Game 1 vs. Jones College- L, 2-4
LSU Eunice could not overcome a plucky Jones effort as the Bengals fell 4-2 in winner's bracket play.  Jones used timely hits to its advantage as all four of the Bobcats' runs were produced with two outs.
 
The Bengals fell behind a run after a two-out solo home run in the opening at bat of the game.  LSUE had an opportunity to answer back as Maci Baldwin (Moss Bluff, LA, Sam Houston HS) worked a lead off walk but was thrown out at third base after a Mari Baldwin (Moss Bluff, LA, Sam Houston HS) single that squashed the LSUE momentum.
 
LSUE fell behind 3-0 in the fifth after a two-run home run with two outs but the Bengals' response would come up short.  After back-to-back one-out singles, LSUE was doubled up on a line out to right field to end the threat.
 
Trailing 4-0 in the final inning, LSUE would keep swinging.  Gabrielle Huetter gave the Bengals a fighting chance as she launched a two-run home run.  A diving play in left field with a runner in scoring position would end the threat and the game for the Bengals.
 
It was a tough luck loss for Chloe Bennett (Rosepine, LA, Rosepine HS) as the sophomore tossed another complete game.  Bennett gave up four earned runs off seven hits and four walks while punching out three batters.
 
Game 2 vs. Mississippi Gulf Coast CC – W, 12-3
LSU Eunice saw its offense come alive Saturday night as the Bengals exploded for a dozen runs in a 12-3 elimination game win over Mississippi Gulf Coast.  The 12 runs tied for the most by any team in a single game so far in the Region 23 Tournament.
 
LSUE used one of four Bulldog errors to score the first run of the game in the opening inning as a misplayed fly ball off the bat of Abby Touchet (Shreveport, LA, C.E. Byrd HS) allowed Madison Prejean (Lafayette, LA, St. Thomas More HS) to score.  Things continued to trend towards the Bengals as LSUE would get out of back-to-back bases loaded jams in the second and third innings, only giving up a single run.
 
The Bengals would break the 1-1 tie in the fourth in a big way, plating seven unanswered runs in the third and fourth frames.  Gabrielle Huetter gave LSUE the lead for good, doubling home a pair of runs in top of the third.  LSUE struck for five runs an inning later, highlighted by Abby Touchet lifting a mammoth three-run home run to put the Bengals ahead 8-1.
 
Touchet sparked the LSUE bats with a 2-for-4 game, driving in three runs and scoring twice.  Maci Baldwin and Katie Salling (Baton Rouge, LA, Parkview Baptist HS) also had multi-hit games.
 
That large lead was plenty enough for Chloe Bennett, who would come in relief to squash the Bulldogs offense.  Bennett (25-6) limited Gulf Cost to two unearned runs in sixth inning, scattering four hits and two walks.  She would strike out three batters.
 
LSUE would put the Bulldogs to bed with four more runs in the seventh as Maddie Chretien (Lake Charles, LA, Barbe HS) and Maci Baldwin would produce RBI singles.  Mari Baldwin pushed across two more as her ground ball was misplayed, letting Maci Baldwin and Sara Roussel (Luling, LA, Hahnville HS) come into score.
 
Emma Shepherd (Athens, LA, Claiborne Academy) worked around a leadoff walk to end the game with three straight fly outs.