LSU-Eunice Uses Power, Pitching To Down Des Moines 7-4

MILLINGTON, Tenn. – LSU-Eunice (49-12) blasted three home runs in the bottom of the first inning to catapult the Bengals to a 7-4 victory over Des Moines Area CC (48-17) in the final game of the first day in the 2008 NJCAA Division II World Series.

The ace of the Bengal staff, Ryan Boudreaux, gave a strong performance, going 8 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts and four earned runs, all in the ninth inning.

LSU-Eunice wasted no time getting on the scoreboard by piling up four runs, all via home runs, in the first inning. Boomer Blanchard led of the inning with a shot over the left field wall.

With two outs, Kellen Bozeman took a fastball over almost the identical spot of the fence that his teammate’s home run traveled. After a Tyler Slocum double, Perry Smith crushed the third home run over the left field fence to give the Bengals an early 4-0 lead. The Bengals added several necessary runs later in the game to stave off a late Bear rally.

Des Moines looked completely outmatched by Boudreaux until their backs were completely against the wall. Down 7-0 with one out in the ninth inning, the Bears started their rally.

The Bears strung together four hits in a row, including a Jamie Schleifer double, and scored four runs in a span of six batters to pull the game to within one swing of the bat. But Josh Bailey of the Bengals shut the door on the rally with a strikeout to end the game.

With the win, LSU-Eunice advances to the 7:30 p.m. game Sunday night against Elgin CC. Des Moines Area CC moves on to play defending champion Longview CC Sunday at noon at USA Stadium.