Grey takes Game 1, Series lead
November 12, 2012
SHREVEPORT, La. - The LSUS Baseball team began their 2012 Fall World Series with Grey taking a one-game series lead winning game 1 7-2 over Navy. Kyle Pearson lifted Grey with a three-run double in the top of the seventh to power past Navy.
Navy (0-1) got all of their offensive production as they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with Devin Greco driving in the series' first run with a double to right-center and then scored the second run of the inning on a RBI-single from Jared Vial.
Grey tied the game in the top of the second inning as K. J. Semien and Rhett Gonsoulin led off the inning with back-to-back singles. The next two batters failed to reach but the two runs had already scored as Semien scored on Gonsoulin's infield hit and then Gonsoulin scampered across the plate when Reed Lavallee got caught in a run down after working a two-out walk.
Mikey Ford blasted an RBI-single in the fourth to give the Grey team the lead for good until Pearson added extra insurance in the last inning. The seventh began with a pair of singles from Ford and Brady McCoy. Then Lavallee sac-bunted them to second and third which set up an intentional walk to Manny Estrada, who had hit the ball hard the last two times up. The walk brought up a struggling Kyle Pearson who made them pay with a big three-run double.
Ben Suit picked up the win for Grey tossing four solid innings allowing two runs on three hits as he fanned six in a walk-free performance. He threw just 67 pitches in four innings and could be a candidate to start later in the series should it get that far.
Jerry Lawrence pitched solid out of the pen for Grey tossing four scoreless innings allowing no-hits while walking only one batter and striking out four. Jake Byrd came in to close the door on any chance of a Navy comeback working a scoreless seventh and striking out one.
Starter Regan Calvert suffered the loss for Navy allowing three runs in four innings of work while walking four and punching out two. Reliever Brock Blanchard looked good until the seventh after posting a pair of zeros in the fifth and sixth innings. The seventh got to the young arm as he allowed the big hit to Pearson after striking him out to end the scoreless fifth inning. Blanchard tossed three innings in all allowing five hits, four runs, one walk and three strikeouts.
Game two will begin tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m. at Pilot Field.
