LSU Eunice wins national baseball title

It took resolve and determination and a strong defense combined with timely hitting to lift top-ranked LSU Eunice to two wins against Western Oklahoma State College Saturday as the Bengals won their fifth baseball national championship.
The Bengals trailed 10-1 against the Pioneers in the fourth inning of Game 1 before LSU Eunice began a remarkable comeback to grab a 14-12 win to force the winner-take-all finale.
LSU Eunice outscored Western 13-3 in the final five innings, sparked by two home runs from David LaFleur to force a 10-10 tie in the eighth inning.
After Western retook the lead with two runs in the bottom of the frame, the resolve of the Bengals began to be on display.
Brennan Bozeman singled and scored on a sacrifice by LaFleur, while Madison Nickens doubled and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.
Steven Sensley was intentionally walked and Nick Coomes drew a two-out walk to keep the inning alive.
Jordan Romero then singled in Sensley, while Trey Caswell’s hit scored Coomes to give the Bengals a two-run advantage.
The LSU Eunice defense then put the Pioneers down in order in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win and grab the momentum for the rest of the night.
“It says a lot about the character of the kids as they were down 10-1 in the first game, and no one in the stadium expected us to win except for the guys in our dugout,” Bengal head coach Jeff Willis said in a news release. “We were down to one strike and we tied the game on a wild pitch, but that shows as long as there is an out left on the board, you have a chance to win.”
Western Oklahoma took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first of the finale, but the Bengals then exploded for 16 unanswered runs as LSU Eunice cruised to the title win.
The Bengals scored in six of eight innings, including four runs in the second and five more in fifth inning to push ahead 15-1.
LSU Eunice put another run across in the seventh when Sam Walley blasted his second solo home run and the Bengal pitchers continued to hold the Pioneers off base.
Ben Braymer pitched eight innings, striking out 12, with four hits and one walk to earn the win.
Zack Hamilton pitched the final inning with a strikeout and one hit as the Bengal defense turned a double play to end the game.
LSU E beats
UCONN Avery
Survive and advance is the goal when a team falls into the loser’s bracket in the NJCAA Division II World Series.
It took 13 innings and nearly five hours before top-ranked LSU Eunice scored twice to earn a 16-14 win against UCONN Avery Point Friday afternoon at David Allen Memorial Ball Park.
With the victory, LSU Eunice grabbed its 32nd World Series win to move ahead of Grand Rapids for the best in NJCAA Division II series play.
LaFleur hit a solo shot in the top of the inning to give the Bengals a 16-15 advantage, while Jordan Romero doubled and scored on a RBI single from Janson Bourque to give LSU Eunice an insurance run.
The Pointers (37-13) threatened in the bottom of the frame when Jordan Kowalski and Garrett Hinckley both singled before Bengal outfielder Trenon Trosclair dove to catch a foul ball against the fence to seal the win.
Nickens, Sensley and Coomes all homered for LSU Eunice, while LaFleur also homered in the third inning to spark the Bengal offense, which had 18 hits.
LSU Eunice held a comfortable lead until the Pointers rallied with five runs in the bottom of the seventh to close the gap to 11-9.
The Bengals added three more runs in the top of the eighth via a run on a Jordan Romero bunt.
LaFleur walked and scored on a wild pitch before Romero scored on a bunt by Bourque.
UCONN Avery Point scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth, sparked by a bases-loaded walk followed by a two-run double by Avery Santos to force the extra innings.
Mitch Sewald (14-1), who earned the series opening win against Scottsdale, pitched the final 6.1 innings as he struck out nine, walked one and allowed one earned run on eight hits to seal the victory.
Starter Clay Moffitt went four innings as he struck out three, walked one and allowed four runs on five hits.
Evan Richardson, Erin Baldwin, Hayden Guidry and Hamilton also pitched for the Bengals before Sewald closed the win.
Coomes (3-for-7), Bourque (3-for-7), Romero (3-for-6, BB), LaFleur (2-for-5), Bozeman (2-for-6), Nickens (2-for-6) and Sensley (2-for-6) all had multiple hits for the Bengals.