Pilots pound Jarvis in series opener
April 08, 2011
SHREVEPORT, La. - The no. 6 LSU Shreveport Pilots improved their winning streak to three games with a convincing 12-0 win over the Jarvis Christian Bulldogs in seven innings in Red River Athletic Conference at Pilot Field on Friday night.The Pilots (33-10, 21-1 RRAC) notched the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning as Michael Diffie hit his third home run of the year to give the Pilots a 1-0 lead. Two more runs came across in the bottom of the second inning as Shawn Moy (BB) and Stephen Hobbins (HBP) reached with two outs. Moy got a great jump to steal third and Hobbins followed for the double steal and then Diffie single to left brought both of them home to extend the lead to 3-0 after two complete innings of play.
Kyle Pearson drove in the first of two runs for the Pilots in the third inning and then he scored on a double from Curtis Beaudoin for a 6-0 advantage. LSUS tacked on two more in the fifth as Kevin Smith hit his 13th homer of the season, this one over the right field wall against the 20-mile an hour wind. Hobbins singled in the second run of the inning as the Pilots extended their lead to 7-0 after five.
The biggest inning of the night for the Pilots came in their final at bat as they scored five runs on three hits in the sixth inning. Diffie led off the inning with a double, bringing him a triple shy of the cycle, and scored on a sac fly from Smith. Wentz and Andrew Brouillette both walked and scored on Kyle Pearson's two-run double down the right field line. Beaudoin then launched his third long ball of the year to put the Pilots in front by a dozen.
Jared Mata (5-2) went the distance for the fourth time this year for the Pilots as he scattered five hits while walking two and striking out two in seven innings of work. Justin Valdez (2-6) suffered the loss for the Bulldogs as he allowed 12 earned runs on 12 hits in five and 1/3. He walked five LSUS batters and struck out four.
Jarvis (6-21, 6-16 RRAC) failed to score but had five hits and made two errors in the field while the Pilots scored 12 runs on 12 hits and played error-free. JCC has now lost six games in a row.
These two teams will wrap up the three-game series tomorrow at Pilot Field with the double header beginning at 1:00 p.m. Ten Pilot seniors will be honored at 1:00 as they will play their final regular season games at home but will get to play at Pilot Field when it hosts the RRAC Tournament April 30-May 3. The first game of the double header will take place at approximately 1:15 following the Senior Day Ceremony.
