Bragging rights for state powerhouses

Revenge was not their motivation, but LSU Eunice earned a three-game sweep over defending NJCAA Divsion II champion Murray State College this past weekend.
But the sweep has to be put quickly behind them as the Division II No. 2 Bengals (19-4) brace for a series against in-state foe Division I No. 2 Delgado Community College (24-2) with a doubleheader Saturday before the finale Sunday afternoon.
During Saturday’s doubleheader, the LSU Eunice Athletic Department will be holding the first Black Pot Cookoff.
“It is going to be a great weekend,” LSUE head coach Jeff Willis said. “There are two really good teams who are going to play each other.
“It is our goal to try to play the best baseball we can every time we go out,” he said. “I don’t think we have played our best baseall yet.”
The Bengals opened the Murray State series with a 13-3 victory on Friday night, left-hander Chad Reeves earned his sixth win of the season with his complete game performance, allowing eight hits and three runs while striking out eight Murray State batters during his 115-pitch night.
“I think he wanted to go out and rectify how he pitched in last year’s championship game,” the coach said. “He has done everything we expected from him.”
LSU Eunice collected 13 hits and 12 RBI en route to their 13 runs, as five players each finished with two hits.
Derek Herrington notched three RBI, while Brennan Bozeman, Mason Nickens and Jordan Romero tallied an RBI each as all four collected two hits. Stefan Trosclair added an RBI to his two-hit night, while Kyle St. Pierre (0-4) and Ray Veit (1-2) also picked up an RBI each.
In the 7-1 win on Saturday, the Bengals finished with seven hits and were aided by five Murray State errors, with all of the errors coming in innings where LSU Eunice scored.
Right-hander Hayden Barnett earned his first win of the season after tossing four innings, allowing two hits, three walks and hitting three batters while striking out two. He worked out of a pair of jams, leaving the bases loaded for Murray State in both the first and third innings.
At the plate, Mason Nickens and Derek Herrington each finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, as Stefan Trosclair (1-3) also drove in two RBIs while Brennan Bozeman and Tyler Chapman both tallied a hit in the win.
In windy conditions on Sunday, LSUE came back from an early deficit to grab a 13-11 win as the two teams combined for six home runs.
Derek Herrington led the offense with three hits – two going out for home runs – and driving in five RBIs, while Brennan Bozeman (RBI), Gabe Roberts, Stefan Trosclair (homer, RBI), Tyler Chapman, Sam Walley and Madison Nickens (2 RBIs) all collected two hits each.
Ben LeBlanc, the fifth of seven Bengal pitchers used, earned his second win of the season after allowing four hits and one run in his two innings of relief before Walley notched his sixth save of the year following a perfect ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts.
“We pitched out of several different jams,” Willis said of the series. “We made some big plays when we needed to and offensively we had some big hits with two outs.