Pilots suffer first loss but split double header
February 24, 2012
MUSKOGEE, Okla. - The no. 6 LSU Shreveport Pilots bounced back with a 12-3 win in the second game of Friday's Red River Athletic Conference double header at Warrior Field after falling 10-9 in the first game to the Bacone Warriors.
GAME 1
The first game of the day got off to the right start as Tyler Alton hit a lead-off homer to put his team on top with an early 1-0 lead on the fourth pitch of the game but Bacone starter Jesse Fish settled in and retired the next six batters that he faced which allowed time for the Warriors to tie the game at one in the bottom of the first.
LSUS snuck in a run in the top of the third inning when Ridge Gonsoulin was picked off but he stayed in a rundown long enough for Alton to score from second to put the Pilots on top 2-1 until they erupted for a four-run fourth inning to take a commanding 6-1 lead as Devin Greco had the highlight hit of the inning driving in a pair of runs with a double and his first hit in a Pilot uniform.
Things appeared to be heading in the right direction for the Pilots to pick up their 11th straight win of the season until the train derailed as Bacone scored nine runs in their final three at-bats and won the game with a walk-off homer to a small porch in right field that would normally stay in play.
LSUS starter Matt Lackie picked up the no-decision as he was in a groove until the five-run fifth where he allowed back-to-back one-out singles and then walked the next three before allowing the game-tying bases clearing double to Steven Smith who had a great day at the plate for the Warriors going two for three with five runs batted in. Lackie would bounce back to retire the final two batters of the inning as the score remained tied at six after five innings.
The Pilots took the lead with a run in the sixth on an RBI-single by Gonsoulin but the Warriors added three more in the bottom half to take a 9-7 lead heading to the seventh. LSUS got a lead-off triple from Kade Billeaudeaux as Stephen Hobbins drove him in with a double to left center. Then Alton with the game on the line and the Pilot one strike away from their first loss of the season, he placed the two-strike curveball out of reach of the short stop for the game-tying single.
Cam Ellis, the third relief pitcher of the game for the Pilots, struck out the first batter of the seventh on three pitches and then a lazy fly to right field received help from the wind as it carried the ball over the short right-field porch for a walk-off homer by Garland Norton which was his only hit of the game.
LSUS pounded 13 hits with five having multi-hit games. Alton led the way with a four for five game at the plate with a pair of RBIs and runs scored while Gonsoulin, Greg Friesen, Billeaudeaux, and Hobbins each had two hits. Bacone had four batters with multi-hits.
Cam Ellis (0-1) suffered the loss for the Pilots as a victim of the short right field fence as he tossed one inning allowing just that one hit that won the game while Cody McBride (2-1) picked up the win for Bacone tossing two innings allowing three hits, two runs, and five strikeouts in a walk-free performance.
GAME 2
The second game went a little more the way the Pilots are accustomed to despite committing four errors in the field. LSUS scored 12 runs on 11 hits while Bacone also made four miscues with the leather.
LSUS (11-1, 3-1 RRAC) scored a pair of runs in the second inning and then added four more in the third for a 6-0 lead. David Dorton's two-run single in the third set the table for Hobbins' first homer of the year. In a matter of three pitches the Pilots turned what was a 2-0 lead into a 6-0 advantage.
Dorton came through again in the fourth with an RBI-double as the Pilots pulled away to a 7-0 lead until Bacone (9-6, 4-1 RRAC) began to crawl their way back with a pair of runs in the fourth and one in the fifth but LSUS starter Jared Mortensen dominated the sixth and seventh innings shutting down the rally.
Mortensen (4-0) picked up the win tossing seven and two thirds scattering nine hits and allowing only two earned runs. The right-hander walked only one batter as he tossed 124 pitches while striking out 10. Ben Suit worked the final inning and a third of hit-less ball and recorded one strikeout and only threw 13 pitches.
The Pilots got to Bacone starter Justin McGee (1-2) early as he threw three innings allowing seven hits, seven runs while walking two and fanning three.
LSUS had four hitters with multi-hits as Gonsoulin was two for five with a RBI while Billeaudeaux was two for four. Devin Greco drove in two and scored three runs after a two for four day at the dish while Dorton drove in three and was also two for four. Hobbins had the most runs batted in with three but was one for four at the plate with a homer. Kyle Pearson was one for two off the bench with a solo-homer to lead-off the eighth inning.
These two teams will meet again tomorrow at Warrior Field for the rubber-game of the series with the winner of the game take the series two games to one. The first pitch is schedule for 1 p.m. CDT. The live play-by-play can be heard live at teamline.cc.
