Bengals grab three from North Central Texas

The LSU Eunice baseball team wrapped up the second half of a day-night doubleheader sweep with a 12-5 victory over North Central Texas College on Saturday night.
The win was the second of the day as the Bengals (11-1) took all three games of the weekend series with North Central Texas (8-5).
On Saturday night, the Bengal bats came alive to collect 12 hits as a team while freshman pitcher Nick Lawrence racked up seven strikeouts.
“I thought Nick Lawrence set the tone right off the bat. Our guys have been challenged to take over the game in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and we scored nine runs in those innings so that was good to see,” head coach Jeff Willis said.
“I thought our guys were able to hit reset after the first game and come back and put together a complete game performance.”
A tight game throughout, the two teams traded scores before LSU Eunice plated six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to break away from what had been a one-run lead at the beginning of the inning.
Kyle St. Pierre led the offensive attack with a three-hit night, including a pair of doubles, as he finished with three RBIs. Brennan Bozeman (2-5, 2 runs) and Stefan Trosclair (2-2, 3 walks, 2 runs) each notched two hits, as Bozeman drove home three RBIs and Trosclair brought in two RBIs of his own.
Mason Nickens (1-1), Derek Herrington (0-3, 2 walks) and Sam Walley (0-4) each added an RBI as well.
Lawrence improved to 2-0 on the season, tossing 6 1/3 innings and allowing seven hits and four runs while walking two batters to go along with his seven strikeouts.
Will Bacon (2/3 inning, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk), Ben LeBlanc (1 1/3 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout) and Ryan Domingue (2/3 inning, 1 strikeout) combined to wrap up the ballgame out of the bullpen.
After seeing North Central Texas take the lead in the top of the first inning, the Bengals responded in the bottom of the frame when Bozeman singled and scored on Walley’s sacrifice fly before they took the lead in the third inning when Herrington was hit by a pitch, stole second and third base, and scored on Trosclair’s RBI single.
LSU Eunice added to the lead in the fifth with a Walley RBI groundout, and in the sixth, when Herrington drew a bases loaded walk and the hosts plated two additional runs via a North Central Texas error.
North Central cut the lead to one after a three-run homer in the top of the seventh, but the Bengals responded with a six-run seventh inning, highlighted by RBI singles from Nickens and Bozeman, a Trosclair bases loaded walk and St. Pierre’s three-run double into the left field corner.
LSU Eunice is back in action on Tuesday when they host a midweek doubleheader against Pearl River Community College. Game one is set for a 4 p.m. first pitch with game two to follow.

LSU Eunice grabbed a tight, 6-5 victory over North Central Texas College in the second game of the team’s series and first game of the day on Saturday afternoon.
The teams square off at 7 p.m. tonight in the series finale in the second half of the day-night doubleheader.
The Bengals (10-1) plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a lead they would not surrender, despite North Central Texas (8-5) cutting the lead to one in the final inning.
Overall, LSU Eunice saw five players notch six hits, with freshman Brennan Bozeman the only Bengal to record two hits while also adding an RBI.
“It was a close ballgame. I’m really proud of our guys, after North Central scored the four runs in the top of the fifth, to come back and score three runs of our own and get the momentum back in our dugout,” head coach Jeff Willis said.
“(Tonight’s) an opportunity to treat it like a situation we could be in later in the year. Also a split doubleheader makes it feel like two separate games and not necessarily a doubleheader.”
Derek Herrington (1-1, 3 walks, 2 runs) and Tyler Chapman (1-4) each collected RBI doubles, while freshman Jordan Romero (1-3, run) notched a double with his first collegiate hit.
Freshman Ralphie McDonald (1-3, run) also added a hit, while sophomores Stefan Trosclair (0-3) and Kyle St. Pierre (0-2, walk, run) each tallied an RBI.
Freshman Nick Hartman improved to 2-0 on the season with the win, tossing six complete innings and allowing just four runs (three earned) on four hits while walking two batters and striking out six.
O.J. Latin threw two innings of scoreless relief, allowing a hit, a walk and striking out one before turning the ball over to Sam Walley (1 inning, two hits, 1 run) to finish up the ninth inning.
Trailing by two heading into the ninth, North Central Texas opened the inning with back-to-back singles before double stealing to put runners at second and third with no outs. A Bengal error cut the lead to one before Walley forced a pop up for the first out of the inning, picked off a runner at second base and ended the afternoon with a pop up to close the game out.
LSU Eunice jumped on the board in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single from Bozeman and a run-scoring groundout from Trosclair. They added two the lead with Chapman’s RBI double down the left field line in the fourth inning.
North Central Texas plated four runs in the top of the fifth inning off of a Bengal error, a wild pitch from Hartman and a single before the Bengals took the lead back with four runs in the bottom of the frame.
Romero opened the inning with a leadoff double into left-center field before scoring on Herrington’s RBI double down the left field line. Bozeman’s groundout and St. Pierre’s sacrifice fly gave the Bengals the lead they would not give back.

LSU Eunice collected nine hits and used seven North Central Texas College errors to take a 10-2 victory in the opening game of the team’s three-game weekend series on Friday night.
The Bengals (9-1) plated a single run in the opening inning before scoring multiple runs in the third, fourth and eighth innings in the win. North Central Texas (8-4) helped LSU Eunice by committing seven errors on the night.
“We had nine hits, but I thought for the most part we had a very lackluster performance (offensively). That game was actually a lot closer than the score. They had some miscues that they aren’t going to have tomorrow. That ballgame could have very well been notched up, tie game coming in late if they make plays they are capable of making, that they are going to make tomorrow and Sunday,” head coach Jeff Willis said.
The top three hitters in the LSU Eunice lineup – Derek Herrington, Brennen Bozeman and Stefan Trosclair – combined to finish the night 6-for-11 at the plate, driving in seven RBIs and scoring five runs.
Herrington (2-3) collected a double, walked twice and scored three times while driving home two RBIs, while Bozeman notched four RBIs and Trosclair added one RBI as each finished 2-for-4.
Tyler Chapman (1-5, RBI double), Gabe Roberts (1-3, run) and Ralphie McDonald (1-4, run) were the only other Bengals to tally hits in the game.
Herrington opened the bottom of the first inning with a double before scoring pitches later on Bozeman’s sacrifice fly to plate the first run of the night before Bozeman drove home his second run with an RBI groundout in a third inning that also saw Trosclair collect an RBI single.
The fourth inning saw Herrington and Bozeman notch back-to-back two-run singles as the Bengals plated four in the inning but left the bases loaded at the end of the frame.
In the eighth inning, LSU Eunice tacked on their final runs of the night when Herrington scored on a North Central Texas error, Kyle St. Pierre (0-2, walk) brought in a run with an RBI groundout and Chapman added his RBI double into right-center field.
Left-hander Chad Reeves improved to 4-0 on the season with his five innings of work on the mound, allowing just two hits and one run while walking two and striking out five batters.
Jevin Huval (2 innings, 1 unearned run, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts) and Hayden Marze (2 innings, 2 strikeouts) combined to wrap up the final four innings of work.
North Central Texas plated their first run in the fifth inning, using a single, a hit batsman and bakck-to-back walks by Reeves to get on the scoreboard before their second run came in the eighth, scoring via a Bengal error.