Bengals open season with sweep, ready for Bellhaven

If winning a series is good, then a series sweep is great.
Top-ranked LSU Eunice earned 19-3, 3-2 and 15-8 wins over North Lake College this past weekend.
“The most positive thing is we won three games and I don’t think we played very well,” Bengal head coach Jeff Willis said. “There were spots of greatness and then there were things we need to improve upon.
“Any time you can win and not play your best, that is a good thing.”
The Bengals exploded for 14 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as LSU Eunice cruised to 19-3 mercy-rule win in the season opener Friday night.
Erin Baldwin earned the win as he struck out four, walked one but did not allow a hit in four shutout innings.
Connor Bates went the final three innings as he struck out five and allowed three earned runs on six hits.
Hayden Mixon went 4-for-5 with five RBI and four runs scored to lead the Bengals.
Trosclair went 3-for-3 with a RBI and three runs scored, while Claverie went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.
LaFleur went 2-for-4 with a walk, 1 RBI and a run scored, while Janson Bourque went 2-for-5 with 1 RBI and a run scored.
Coomes went 1-for-4 with two RBI and two run scored, while Watson finished 1-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.
On Saturday, the Bengals rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to seal a 3-2 win over North Lake.
Michael Claverie went 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored, while Trosclair went 2-for-2 with two RBI.
Orynn Veillon went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Nick Coomes (1-for-3, BB) and Zach LaFLeur (1-for-4) earned the other hits for the Bengals.
Clay Moffit earned the win as he pitched three innings, struck out five, walked two and did not allow a hit.
Bengals starter Braxton Smith went three innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
Jacob Barton went two two innings as he struck out three, walked one and allowed one hit.
Nick Duthu closed the game with three strikeouts, a walk and one hit.
LSU Eunice completed a three-game sweep over North Lake with a 15-8 win on Sunday.
Hayden Marze earned the win as he struck out six, walked two and did not allow a hit in four shut-out innings.
“Our pitchers did well,” Willis said. “I thought Erin Baldwin, Clay Moffit and Hadyn Marze really stood out.
LaFleur went 3-for-5 with a walk and five RBI to lead the Bengal hitters, while Trosclair went 2-for-3 with two walks, three RBI and four runs scored.
Fontenot went 2-for-2 with a walk, a RBI and two runs scored.
Willis said he was pleased with the Bengal offense, who opened the season with 37 runs.
“That may be the most runs we have scored in an opening weekend.” he said. “We had a really good weekend swinging the bats.”
Even with all the runs scored, the Bengals still had to fight to earn the sweep.
“It was good to see us win in multiple ways,” Willis said. “Friday we scored 19 runs on 19 hits and then on Saturday we were able to come back when we were down.
“It was key for us to be able to win a close game,” the coach commented. “That give us a lot of confidence moving forward because there will be a lot of close games during the season.
“Sunday we had an 11-run lead and then we give up seven runs,” Willis said. “They got a little momentum but once they scored those seven runs, we were able to score some runs to get the momentum back.”
Trosclair hit .875 in the three games against North Lake with six RBI, seven runs scored and two stolen bases to spark the Bengal attack.
“When he is able to put the ball in play, he can create a lot of havoc because he can run,” the coach said. “Over half his hits were bunt base hits and he ran the bases well and that is key to his game plan.”
Fontenot also had a strong weekend for the Bengals as he went 5-for-6 with a RBI and three runs scored.
LaFleur went 6-for-13 with four doubles with six RBI, while Mixon went 5-for-10 with a home run and two doubles.
“It was good to see those guys step up,” Willis said. “Mark had some good hits and Zach came up with some big two-out RBI hits.
“Hayden did not have a bad at-bat the entire weekend,” the coach said. “He didn’t get hits every time but they were quality at-bats.”
LSU Eunice opens a three-game series against Brookhaven College at 6 p.m. today
“They will hit with some power,” Willis said of Brookhaven. “They have some guys who have velocity in their pitches while others will throw a lot of breaking balls.
“They are opening up their season with us,” the coach said. “We have to get past their emotion and not have a lull in our second series.”