LSUE softball breaks losing streak with pre-storm win
By Tom Dodge
The stormy weather may have washed out their second game of a scheduled doubleheader, but the Lady Bengals were singing in the rain Monday as the Louisiana State University at Eunice softball team grabbed a 7-5 win over Southwest Mississippi Community College.
“This was really our first two games of the real season head coach Brian DeWitt said of the district games that are necessary to qualify for NJCAA Division II regionals.
“They were locked in today and hopefully that will continue.”
The win broke a 16-game losing streak for the Lady Bengals (4-20).
“It was good to break out of that mess we were in,” DeWhitt said of the streak. “We had quality pitching and timely hitting. It was good confidence booster.”
Southwest Mississippi scored two runs off starter Fagan Willoughby as the Lady Bears grabbed an early advantage, sparked when Amber Restivo singled and scored on a single from Heather Wehrs. Kaitlyn Johnson also recorded a single to score Catherine West.
LSUE closed the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning when Lindsey Babin singled and scored on Kim St. Amant’s single to left field.
The Lady Bears added two more runs in the top of the second inning as Restivo and Leonna Ballard both crossed home plate.
Willoughby allowed seven hits and three earned runs against the first 11 batters she faced before being replaced in the third inning by former Port Barre star Elizabeth Kaiser.
The Lady Bengals closed the gap to 4-3 in the bottom of the inning when Amanda Savoie singled to start a two-out rally.
Emmalea Dugas blasted a double to centerfield to plate Savoie; Dugas then scored on a RBI single by Babin.
Southwest Mississippi pushed ahead 5-3 in the top of the third inning when Bethany Dukes was hit by a pitch and scored on a RBI from Eri Prestridge.
But the Lady Bengals responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to pull within a run.
LSUE exploded for three runs in the bottom of the fifth to grab a two-run advantage as the Lady Bengals rallied for its first conference win.
Singles by St. Amant, Kami Hebert and Leigh Ann Jukes loaded the bases and then Rhea Person drew a walk to score St. Amant to tie the game.
Kaiser rapped a RBI single and Savoie recorded the other RBI to seal the 7-5 win before the threatening skies opened up and washed out the finale of the scheduled doubleheader.
Kaiser earned the win as she allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts and a walk against Southwest Mississippi, including a hitless seventh inning to close out the game.
Babin went 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Lady Bengals, while Savoie and Dugas both went 2-for-3 in the win.
Kaitlyn Johnson and Kaila Smith were the top Lady Bulldog hitters as they both went 2-for-3 with a RBI.
The win over Southwest Mississippi was a great relief for the Lady Bengals fresh off a pair of Saturday osses to San Jacinto 9-0, 5-3.
Kaiser suffered the loss in Saturday’s first game against the Coyotes as San Jacinto broke open a 1-0 lead with a eight-run fifth inning. Kaiser allowed seven earned runs on nine hits with one strike out and a walk.
Hannah Latoilais was handed the loss in the second game as she allowed five earned runs on seven hits with a strikeout and one walk.
LSUE took the lead in the bottom of the first when Hebert scored on a RBI double from Jukes. San Jacinto pushed across four runs in the sixth and added another in the top of the seventh to forge ahead, 5-1.
The Lady Bengals closed the gap to two runs in the final inning when Kaiser singled and St. Amant belted a two-run homer but LSUE could not get any closer.