Lackie shuts down UHV as no. 1 Pilots claim 12th straight win
April 06, 2012
SHREVEPORT, La. - Matt Lackie cruised the no. 1 team in the nation, the LSU Shreveport Pilots, with a three-hit shutout win going the distance for the fourth time this season as the Pilots dominated the visiting University of Houston-Victoria Jaguars 9 - 0 at Pilot Field on Friday night. The win give the Pilots their 12th victory in a row.
Lackie (8-0) set the tone of the game early retiring 12 of the first 13 batters that he faced until he allowed a pair of base runners in the top of the fifth inning with no outs but a strike out and two ground outs ended the threat and he cruised the rest of the way allowing just two more base runners, one on an error and the other on a base hit.
The senior right hander from McKinney, Texas, allowed only one walk while striking out eight batters in nine innings of work.
LSUS (31-3) got on the board in the bottom of the third inning crossing the plate three times as Kyle Pearson brought in Stephen Hobbins with a bases loaded walk and then Greg Friesen followed with a two-run single to right for a 3 - 0 LSUS lead after three.
Pearson added a RBI double in the two-run fourth inning and then the home team scored two more in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead to 7 - 0. The final two runs of the night came in the bottom of the eighth when Ridge Gonsoulin laced a lead-off double to deep left center and then was plated on a RBI single from Friesen and then he scored on a single from Kade Billeaudeaux.
The Pilots did some damage on the basses with four stolen bases one of which came from Hobbins, who was 4-for-4 at the plate, as the third baseman came to talk to the pitcher and no time was called. The heads up base running by the Pilots second baseman led to a run on the next batter as Gonsoulin nearly legged out the safety-squeeze bunt in the sixth.
UHV (11-21) has now lost three games in a row as they managed only five batters to reach base against Lackie.
Tomorrow's double header will begin at 1 p.m. as the series concludes at Pilot Field. LSUS will send the right-handed duo of Jared Mortensen (7-0, 1.22 ERA) and Logan Norris (4-1, 3.70 ERA) to the bump tomorrow afternoon.
