PINEVILLE, La. – The #15 Louisiana Christian University baseball team plated eight runs in the bottom of the first inning and cruised to a 13-1, run-rule win in seven innings over Texas College to complete the three-game series sweep of the Steers Saturday afternoon at Billy Allgood Field.
Texas College (2-18, 2-16 RRAC) got its first run of the weekend to take the lead in the top of the first inning as the second batter of the frame hit a solo homer for a 1-0 advantage.
#15 Louisiana Christian (29-6, 14-4 RRAC) didn't flinch to the first bit of adversity of the weekend. With runners on the corners and one out,
Drake Aldridge dropped a base hit down the right field line to plate
Caleb Brown from third.
All that did was set the table for
Chris Kelley who, facing a 1-1 count, smashed a three-run home run over the center field wall for a 4-1 Wildcat lead.
A big two-out rally helped LCU blow the score wide open. With two away,
Brady Huffman started the rally with a hit to left-center.
Braden McLin,
Sterling Sims, and Brown drew three straight walks with Brown's forcing home Huffman.
Matthew Cody then shot a base hit back up the middle, plating both McLin and Sims. A wild pitch allowed Brown to come home from third and when the first inning finally ended, the Wildcats led 8-1.
LCU was able to get out of a two-on, no out jam in the top of the second and then extended its lead in the bottom half of the frame. With one out, Kelley and Waxley were both hit by pitches and Huffman was walked to load the bases.
Luke Morgan, Kelley's pinch runner, was awarded home plate on a balk by the Steer pitcher. A wild pitch allowed Waxley to score. McLin then got a ground ball deep in the hole between shortstop and third which scored Huffman from third base, giving LCU an 11-1 lead after two complete.
Another two-out rally extended Louisiana Christian's lead in the fifth. Kelley started the rally with a two-out double inside the left field line. His pinch runner,
Ian Erbe, was given third base on another TC balk and came home on Waxley's shot back up the chute. Morgan, now in the line-up, McLin, and
Blake Chauvin were all plunked back-to-back-to-back to force home Waxley for the game's final run.
Kelley was the lone Wildcat with multiple hits in the contest, both of which went for extra bases. He was 2-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch, his three-run home run was his eighth dinger of the season and accounted for all three of his RBI and his lone run scored. His courtesy runner as the catcher scored two other runs.
Cody went 1-for-3, was hit by a pitch, and knocked in two runs.
Brown was 1-for-3 with a walk and was hit by a pitch, scored twice and drove in a run.
Aldridge was 1-for-4 with his one hit being a double. He knocked in a run and scored once as well.
Waxley went 1-for-2, was hit by pitch twice, got a RBI and scored twice.
Huffman also scored twice as he went 1-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base.
McLin was also 1-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base, knocked in a run and scored once.
Owen Simoneaux (4-0) threw five innings and allowed four hits and a run, which was earned, struck out five and didn't walk any batters to get the win.
Thomas Collins went an inning, getting the Steers in order in the sixth.
Alan Mason threw the final inning and allowed a single and a walk but stranded those runners as he got the other three batters he faced out, one via the strikeout.
The Wildcats wrap up an unexpected six-game homestand next week with a key Red River Athletic Conference series against Our Lady of the Lake which starts on Thursday. First pitch of Thursday's contest against the Saints (25-11, 14-4 RRAC) is set for 6 p.m. at Billy Allgood Field.
