Bengals take two over Delgado

The LSU Eunice baseball team rallied back from an early five-run deficit for an 11-8 victory on Sunday afternoon against visiting Delgado Community College.
The Bengals (21-5), ranked second in the NJCAA Division II poll, used a five-run fifth inning and a four-run eighth inning to fuel the comeback as they finished with 16 hits in the finale to win the series, taking two of the three contests over Delgado (25-4), ranked second in the NJCAA Division I poll.
Trailing Delgado by one heading into the eighth inning, the Bengals would plate four runs on four hits, scoring on a squeeze bunt by Stefan Trosclair to tie the game before an RBI double from Tyler Chapman and a two-run double from Gabe Roberts added extra insurance runs.
Mason Nickens (RBI) and Chapman (double, RBI) each finished with three hits to pace the offense, while Kyle St. Pierre (2 doubles, 2 RBIs) and Derek Herrington (double, RBI) each notched two hits.
Trosclair (double), Jordan Romero and Roberts (double) all collected two RBIs while finishing with one hit, while the Bengals also saw Brennan Bozeman, Ray Veit and Madison Nickens (triple) each record a hit as well.
Jevin Huval, the third LSU Eunice pitcher of the afternoon, earned his third win of the season after tossing two shutout innings of relief before Sam Walley notched save No. 7 with a three-strikeout ninth inning.
Starter Zach Hamilton (2 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs (3 ER)) did not factor into the decision, as lefty Ben LeBlanc gave the Bengals four innings of middle relief (6 hits, 3 runs (2 ER), 4 strikeouts) as they clawed back into the game.
After seeing Delgado post five runs in the first two innings, LSU Eunice got on the board with a run in the third inning when Madison Nickens opened the frame with a triple before scoring moments later on Herrington’s RBI double down the left field line.
Delgado would plate two more runs in the top of the fourth inning to push their advantage to 7-1 heading into the fifth, when the Bengals scored five runs on five hits to get back into the ballgame, highlighted by an RBI single from Mason Nickens, an RBI double from Trosclair, a two-run double from St. Pierre and a successful squeeze bunt from Romaro to plate the fifth run.
The visitors would use an LSU Eunice error to add a run in the top of the sixth to push the lead to 8-6 before the Bengals plated a run of their own in the seventh when St. Pierre doubled and scored on Romero’s RBI single to set up the eighth inning.
The Bengals hit the road for a midweek doubleheader at Centenary College on Wednesday afternoon before a Texas roadtrip that includes a weekend series at Tyler Junior College on Saturday and Sunday and a contest at Panola College on April 1.

LSU Eunice split a Saturday afternoon doubleheader against in-state foe Delgado Community College, taking the opening game 8-0 before an 8-6 loss in game two.
“In game one, Chad Reeves threw phenomenal and set the tone like a starting pitcher supposed to do. Our hitters played well in that game and there were a lot of positive things to come out of that game. But on the flip side, your goal is to win both games and we didn’t get that done tonight,” head coach Jeff Willis said.
The first game saw LSU Eunice plate five of their eight runs in the opening two innings, Brennan Bozeman (RBI) and Kyle St. Pierre each tallied two-hit games. Mason Nickens (2 RBI), Stefan Trosclair (RBI), Madision Nickens and Derek Herrington all added a hit, while Tyler Chapman (0-2) drove home two runs as well.
Reeves earned his seventh win of the season following seven strong innings on the mound, as the left-hander allowed just four hits and three walks while striking out eight Delgado batters.
The Bengals used a wild pitch to plate their first run before a sacrifice fly by Chapman scored a second run and an error later in the first inning pushed the lead to 3-0. In the second inning, Madison Nickens’ one-out triple led to a double steal attempt and an error that allowed him to score before Herrington, also involved in the double steal, scored via a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bozeman.
Trosclair connected on a two-out, solo homer over the left field wall in the fifth inning before Mason Nickens’ two-run double down the left field line plated the final two runs of game one in the win.
Game two saw Delgado post a six-run fourth inning, all coming with two outs, as the Bengals were unable to fight back, plating two runs in the bottom of the seventh before leaving two runners on to end the night later in the inning.
Mason Nickens and St. Pierre each notched two hits in the nightcap, with St. Pierre tallying four RBIs, while Bozeman (RBI), Chapman, Herrington, Madison Nickens and Ray Veit all added one hit.
Nick Lawrence was saddled with the loss out of the bullpen after allowing six runs in 1 2/3 innings of work on four hits and three walks.
Delgado took the lead in the top of the third inning, collecting four consecutive hits to open the frame to post their first run before the Bengals responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning via a Bozeman RBI sacrifice fly and a wild pitch to plate the second run and take a 2-1 advantage.
In the fourth, Delgado used four hits and four walks to score their six runs, highlighted by a three-run homer, all coming after the opening two batters in the inning were retired.
St. Pierre pulled the Bengals closer in the fifth inning with his two-run single before Delgado used a hit batter and an error to push the lead a run higher in the sixth.
The seventh inning saw St. Pierre come through with another two-run single, but the Bengals would leave two runners stranded to end the night, as Delgado recorded all three outs in the frame via strikeouts.