Pilots Win in Extra Innings
February 19, 2008
Shreveport, La. – The NAIA No.11 LSUS Pilots rallied to defeat the NCAA D-2 No. 8 Southern Arkansas Muleriders 10-9 in extra innings on Tuesday night at Pilots Field.
Victor Hernandez (4-1) picked up his fourth win of the season, after pitching two scoreless innings in relief for the Pilots. Brendan McDonald (1-1) was dealt the loss, giving up three runs in three innings from out of the SAU bullpen.
After a scoreless first inning, Shreveport native David Aubrey doubled to deep right-center field, knocking in two Muleriders for an early 2-0 SAU lead.
The Pilots loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the second inning on a walk and two hit batters, but were unable to plate any runs after Jeff Ledet grounded out to end the inning.
The Pilots finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with two runs on just one hit. After Jeffrey Garidel was hit by a pitch and pinch hitter David Bradley walked to begin the inning, Craig Barnes singled on a bunt down the third base line to load the bases with nobody out. Jacob Watkins grounded out to short for the first out of the inning, but Garidel scored on the play for the first Pilot run of the ballgame. Bradley scored the very next pitch on a sacrifice squeeze by Robert Pharr to tie the game at 2-2.
Cannon Lester led off the SAU half of the sixth inning with a solo home run, giving the Muleriders a one-run lead on his second long ball of the season. Three batters later, John Long hit a two-run shot over the left field fence to put the Muleriders on top 5-2.
SAU tacked on two more runs in the seventh to increase their lead to five runs. Tyler Maag led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and later scored on a wild throw by LSUS catcher Bryan Stebbings after stealing second and third base. Another hit batter and a wild pitch by LSUS reliever Gino Spratley moved Lester into scoring position for the Muleriders, and he would score on a two-out double off the bat of Tim Dellwo.
The Pilots loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh on 12 consecutive balls by two different SAU pitchers. Josh Todd walked in a run on the fourth straight free pass by the Muleriders to begin the inning. Stebbings, the very next batter, took four straight balls for the fifth Pilot walk in the inning, scoring Pharr from third.
The Muleriders looked to have recorded their first out in the bottom of the seventh on a grounder to the second baseman, but a bobbled exchange resulted in everybody being safe and another Pilot run. With the bases still loaded, Garidel reached on another walk, as the Pilots scored their fourth run of the inning without a base hit.
The Pilots scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice by pinch hitter Andrew Brouillette, and took an 8-7 lead on a RBI single by Barnes. LSUS added one more run in the inning on a throwing error by the SAU pitcher, giving the Pilots a 9-7 lead heading into the eighth.
SAU answered back in the top of the eighth with a two-run home run by Brandon Graves, tying the game at 9-9.
After a scoreless ninth inning, Barnes doubled to begin the bottom of the tenth inning for the Pilots. A balk by McDonald moved the winning run to third base, and the Muleriders intentionally walked the next two Pilot batters to load the bases with nobody out and set up a force out at every base. However, the move would backfire as Quenton Shamsabady walked on four straight pitches to end the game on a walk-off walk.
Barnes finished the game with the only three Pilot hits of the game, as LSUS picked up its fifth straight win of the season.
The Pilots (10-4, 8-2) will be back in action with a three-game series versus LSU-Alexandria beginning on Friday night at 6:30 PM.
