LSUS takes 2 of 3 from Mobile, closes to within 1 of GCAC lead 04/21/02

The LSUS Pilots pulled within one game of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference lead by taking two of three games from the University of Mobile Friday and Saturday. In the process, the Pilots assured themselves of a spot in the conference tournament.

LSUS improved its conference record to 17-10, and its overall record to 31-23, which ties the LSUS record for most wins in a season – with five regular-season games remaining. The Pilots will play a double-header Tuesday in Cedar Hill, Texas, against Northwood University, and close the GCAC regular season next weekend with a three-game series against the Loyola University Wolfpack in New Orleans.

The 10-run rule – or “mercy rule,” as it is commonly called – was invoked in both LSUS wins against Mobile. Under the lights Friday, LSUS pounded the Rams for nine runs in the bottom of the first inning, then scored another nine runs before the game was called after the top of the seventh at 18-7. Right-handed pitcher Gene Stevens, a sophomore business administration major from Plaquemine, went all the way for the Pilots, improving his season record to 4-5.

The first game of Saturday’s double-header was close all the way, with both teams scoring once in the first inning. Mobile added a run in the second, and LSUS came back in the third to tie. Following a scoreless fourth, Mobile connected for two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, while LSUS managed one run in each.

After putting the Rams down scoreless in the top of the seventh, the Pilots were in a position to win the game with two outs, two on and Tyson Arishenkoff, a junior finance major from Cranbrook, British Columbia, at the plate. With a characteristic solid ping of the metal bat, the ball rocketed toward the right field wall. A helping zephyr would likely have lifted the ball out of the park, but the air was still and the Mobile fielder snagged the ball right at the fence. Right-handed pitcher Ian Doiron, a senior education major from Houma, accepted the loss for the Pilots, dropping his season record to 7-4.

The first inning of the “nightcap” was scoreless, as was Mobile’s half of the second. The Pilots erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the second and added five more in the fourth. The game was called after the top of the fifth with LSUS up 12-0. With the shutout, red-shirt freshman science major Tony Ferguson, a right-handed pitcher from Shreveport, extended his season record to 8-4.

Loyola (16-11) aided LSUS’s run for the conference title by swiping two of three games over the weekend in Hattiesburg, Miss., from conference-leading William Carey College (18-9).

The three-game series in New Orleans next weekend is crucial for LSUS. To have any chance at the championship, LSUS will have to sweep that series, as William Carey is playing host in Hattiesburg to hapless Talladega College, which is 0-27 in the conference.

The GCAC regular-season champion will host the conference tournament May 1-4.