Rams take down Pilots in series opener
April 22, 2011
FORT WORTH, Tex. - The no. 5 LSU Shreveport Pilots struggled to find scoring opportunities on Friday afternoon against the Texas Wesleyan Rams as they lost the series opener 5-1 at LaGrave Field.TWU (30-20, 19-9 RRAC) got a stellar outing from starting pitcher Derek Vaughn (5-3) as he picked up the win tossing seven and 2/3 allowing six hits, one run, two walks, and six strikeouts against the no. 2 scoring offense in the NAIA.
LSUS (37-12, 25-3 RRAC) scored their only run in the seventh inning as Justin Brodnax drove in the lone run with a RBI-double down the left field line. Jared Mata (5-4) suffered the loss allowing ten hits, five earned runs, one walk, and three strike outs in five and 2/3.
The Rams scored one run in the first and one in the second but took command with a three-run sixth inning. They connected for two singles and two doubles in the inning with Hunter Robinson's two-out two run single with two outs for the big inning.
The Pilots put together back-to-back singles with two outs in the top of the ninth inning forcing the Rams to call on their closer for the final out of the game as Patrick Stanley picked up his 12 save of the season.
LSUS had a total of eight hits and only two players with two or more. Justin Brodnax was two for four with the only RBI for the Pilots while Kevin Smith was three for four with a double that nearly made it out of the yard against a 30-mile an hour wind. Last week at Brownsville flew out to the wall against a 20-30 mile an hour wind. If there had been no wind the last four games for LSUS, Smith would have four more homers added to his total on the year.
The series will conclude tomorrow at LaGrave Field with a double header at 1:00 p.m.
