Pilots split Opening Day double header
January 29, 2011
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The LSU Shreveport baseball team opened the 2011 season on Saturday afternoon at Harrison Field in Montgomery, Ala., on the campus of Faulkner University. The Pilots won the first game over Faulkner 7-6 but lost game two to Savannah College of Art and Design 8-6.
Game 1 vs. Faulkner Eagles, W 7-6
The Pilots (1-0) used the long ball to slip past the 20th ranked Eagles by a final score of 7-6. LSUS got on the board first by a pair of solo home runs from Shawn Moy and Andrew Brouillette to take a 2-0 lead after the top of the first.
The Eagles (0-1) held the Pilot's bats at bay until the fifth inning when they put five more runs on the board. Allen Degges was the first to reach that inning following a single and then Kyle Pearson reached on an error by the third baseman. Curtis Beaudoin laced a double to score Degges and Pearson and then Stephen Hobbins singled to bring up newcomer Michael Diffie. Diffie launched a three-run bomb over the wall to give the Pilots back the lead, now 7-5.
The Pilots took a two-run lead into the last of the seventh. Faulkner got the first runner on but the crafty duo up the middle, Moy and Diffie, turned a double play that proved to save the game as the next Eagle hitter blasted a solo home run but it was not enough the final batter was retired for the win.
LSUS starter Ben Suit (1-0) picked up the win in five innings of work. He struggled early and then settled down to preserve the lead. Suit allowed nine hits, five runs and struck out four in his first win of the season.
Reliever Justin Brodnax (1) picked up his first save of the season as he tossed the final two innings while striking out one batter.
The Pilots scored seven runs on nine hits and committed just one error in the field while Faulkner scored six runs on 10 hits but made three errors.
Game 2 vs. SCAD Bees, L 8-6
SCAD (1-0) scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the second inning to take the early lead and added another run in the third. The Pilots (1-1) trimmed the lead for SCAD to two with a run in the bottom of the fourth.
SCAD added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings as LSUS put one on the board in the fourth and two in fifth to make it 5-3 SCAD after a two-run triple from Stephen Hobbins.
The Bees scored the winning runs pushing three across in the top half of the sixth inning. The Pilots mounted a comeback as they scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh but it was not enough as the LSUS defense dug themselves too big a hole with four errors on the day.
SCAD scored eight runs on 11 hits and made two errors while the Pilots scored six runs on 12 hits and made four errors defensively.
The next games for the Pilots will be tomorrow at Auburn University-Montgomery as they take on Milligan College at 11:00 a.m. and AUM in game two at 1:30 p.m. All the play-by-play action can be heard live at Teamline.cc.
