No. 1 Pilots rally to take series over Brownsville
April 14, 2012
SHREVEPORT, La. - The LSU Shreveport Pilots rallied in the series finale to take the series over the University of Texas Brownsville Scorpions coming from behind to win the game by a final score of 10-9. All three games of the series were decided by one run with the Pilots taking the last two.
Manny Estrada walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth for the walk-off win after Gonsoulin started the inning with a lead-off triple and then Kyle Pearson and Greg Friesen were both intentionally walked.
UTB (28-20, 16-8 RRAC) scored first with a RBI single from Zach Cordia in the top of the first inning to take an early lead and then they added to the lead with Kyle Douglas scoring on a wild pitch for a 2-0 advantage.
The Pilots (37-4, 19-4 RRAC) tied the game in the second inning as Estrada hit his second homer of the series with a lead-off blast over the left field wall. After a Stephen Hobbins walk and a Kym Barthel double to right-center, Kade Billeaudeaux brought in Hobbins with a sac fly to tie the contest at two.
The LSUS took the lead in the third inning as Pearson led off the inning with a single to left only to be followed by a two-run homer by Greg Friesen to put the Pilots on top 4-2 after three innings of play.
The lead would be short lived as the Scorpions added three runs in the fourth inning to take a 5-4 lead. Friesen drove in another run in the fourth, this time a sac fly to tie the game at five which is where the score remained until the top of the sixth when Brownsville took a commanding 9-5 lead.
Robert Garza started the rally with a one-out double and then a hit batter and a walk followed to load the bases. Ricardo Alanis bounced into a fielder's choice that brought in a run and then designated hitter Juan Munoz delivered a haymaker with a three-run homer over the left field wall as they extended their lead to four.
The Pilots chipped away at the deficit over their next three at bats scoring one run in the seventh, three in the eighth, and one in the ninth. Billeaudeaux took one for the team with the bases loaded for sixth run of the game but then Gonsoulin struck out on three pitches to end the threat.
Pearson hammered a mammoth blast on the first pitch of the eighth inning to trim the UTB lead to 9-7. One batter later Devin Greco singled and then Estrada brought him in with a double down the right field line. Hobbins delivered the game-tying single to left on a 0-1 pitch but the scoring stopped there in the frame for the home team. Left handed reliever Brody Chamberlain was summoned from the right-field bullpen and he retired the final two batters of the inning.
Gonsoulin redeemed himself leading off the top of the ninth inning with a triple and scoring the game-winning run on the walk-off walk to Estrada.
Jake Kight (2-0) picked up the win in relief for the Pilots retiring the final two batters in the top of the ninth. Jerry Lawrence and Cam Ellis also added to the relief efforts out of the pen for the Pilots as each posted zeros on the board in their innings of work as the three teamed up holding the Scorpions scoreless in the final three innings. The Pilots used a total of six pitchers in the contest.
Both teams pounded 14 hits as the Pilots had five hitters with multi-hits. Pearson was the only Pilot with three hits as he finished 3-for-3 while Greco was 2-for-five. Estrada drove in three runs and was 2-for-5 with the winning RBI. Hobbins was 2-for-3 and Barthel was 2-for-4 at the plate. The top run producers for the Pilots proved to be Friesen Estrada with three RBIs each while Billeaudeaux drove in two.
The next game for the Pilots will be Tuesday afternoon as they take on the William Carey Crusaders at Milton Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The double header is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and all the action can be heard live at Teamline.cc on the internet.
