Pilots take RRAC Tournament Title
May 03, 2011
SHREVEPORT, La. - The no. 8 LSU Shreveport Pilots baseball team won the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament by defeating the University of Texas-Brownsville Scorpions for the second time in as many day with a 10-1 win on Tuesday afternoon at Pilot Field as the Pilots won both championships this year in the RRAC, the regular season title and the tournament title. This gives LSUS its fifth tournament title in the last six years with the four previous championships coming in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.LSUS (42-13) had three big innings from the offense and got another solid game from the pitching staff to cruise to the win. Logan Norris (2-1) allowed only one hit in the first five innings which came in the second but was erased by a double play to end the inning as he faced the minimum fifteen batters in the first five innings. Norris only allowed one run but it was unearned.
Ben Suit worked the eighth inning and allowed two hits but kept the Scorpions off the board while Cade Bowen finished the game striking out two of the three batters that he faced.
UTB (35-24) got a total of three hits off Norris and only one made out of the infield.
The Pilots scored in the first inning as Kyle Pearson delivered an infield single to drive in the game's first run. The first of three big innings saw four runs come across for the Pilots in the third inning as Michael Diffie cleaned up the bases with a three-run triple to give LSUS a 4-0 lead which was extended to 5-0 following Shawn Moy's RBI-single.
Kevin Smith had the highlight hit in the fifth inning with his 15th homer of the year, a two-run shot off UTB starter, Kevin Chapman. The Pilots added three more runs in the eighth inning as Smith drove in one on a ground out and then Pearson brought the other two runs in with a single to center field.
LSUS had no problem winning their first RRAC Tournament Championship as they averaged 11.75 runs per game through four games to remain unbeaten in the tournament.
Six Pilots had multi hits in the contest: Estrada was two for five, Andrew Brouillette was two for three, Pearson was three for four with three runs batted in, Diffie was two for five with two triples and three RBIs, Brodnax was two for five, Moy was two for five with a RBI. Smith drove in three runs and was one for five with the game's only home run.
The Pilot pitching staff did not allow the Scorpions any free bases as they had no walks and eight strike outs.
The Pilots and Scorpions will both advance to the NAIA Opening Round Tournament (May 12-16). The nine host sites and teams will be determined this Sunday, May 8. There will be nine opening round site with five teams at each site for a double-elimination five team tournament.
