Pilots continue to roll with 6-1 victory over Rams
March 24, 2006
Shreveport, LA---Matt Clayman (5-1) continued his dominance on the mound for the LSUS Pilots Friday night with a complete game three hit masterpiece over the University of Mobile Rams. The Pilots went on to win by a final score of 6-1, and improved to 19-8 on the season, and remain in top spot in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference at 9-3.
Eduardo Davilla blooped the first pitch of the game into center field for a lead single for the Rams. Davilla would promptly steal second and advance to third on a fielder’s choice. Lance Howard scored Davilla from third with a ground ball to second base, giving the Rams an early 1-0 lead.
Pilot leadoff hitter Dustin Bissonnette doubled down the left field line off of Rams starting pitcher Keegan Laycock to begin the bottom of the 1st inning. Next at the plate was Dusty Maddox who took a Laycock fastball square in the side of the head which knocked Maddox to the ground, and had Pilot fans holding their breath. Maddox remained in the game and proved to be alright. Laycock continued to struggle early as he walked Tyler Williams to load the bases with no outs.
Steffan Primeaux struck out swinging for the first out of the inning which brought Pilots leading hitter Colin Moro to the plate. Moro would draw an RBI walk which scored Bissonnette to tie the game at 1-1. That is all the Pilots would get however as Laycock struck out Quenton Shamsabody for the second out, and got Jacob Watkins to ground out to second ending the Pilot rally.
The score remained tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the 4th inning when Watkins scored from third base on a misplayed grounder by Rams second baseman Jerod Baria which gave the Pilots a 2-1 lead.
The Pilots stretched their lead to 4-1 with two runs in the bottom of the 6th which was capped off by a deep drive to right-center field by Maddox that was caught on the warning track by Justin Rosin which allowed Cooksey to score easily from third base.
UM looked as though they had Clayman on the ropes in the top of the 7th after Daniel Harper singled up the middle to lead off the inning, and then a hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases with just one out, and pinch hitter Justin Ragan coming to the plate. Ragan drew the count to 3-0 before Clayman battled back and eventually struck out Ragan on a 3-2 slider for the second out of the inning. Clayman then made quick work of Carlos Romero, striking him out looking on three straight pitches to close the door on the Rams rally.
The Pilots added two more runs in the bottom of the 7th, stretching their lead to 6-1, and that is the way it would end as Clayman held the Rams scoreless through the 9th. Clayman collected 10 strikeouts while walking just two in 9.0 innings of work to improve his record to 5-1 on the year.
Cooksey led the Pilots offense going 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Bissonnette, Maddox, Moro, and Brent Lavallee each added two hits a piece.
Laycock was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs in 4.1 innings of work. Davilla led the Rams with two of the team’s three hits and scored the lone Ram run.
Games two and three of the series will begin at 1:00pm Saturday afternoon in the form of a double-header. Those who are unable to attend can catch all of the action live with the voice of the Pilots, Mark Cantrell, by visiting http://www.lsus.edu/baseball/ and clicking on the listen live link to hear the broadcast.
