JOURNAL SPORTS
The LSU Shreveport baseball team needed just one win against rival LSU-Alexandria, but the Pilots brought their brooms to central Louisiana for good measure.
LSUS dominated the Generals 11-0 on Friday to secure the seventh Red River Athletics Conference title in program history, and Pilots outslugged their counterparts in 13-6 and 10-7 victories on Saturday to sweep the series.
The nationally-ranked No. 3 Pilots (47-3, 31-2 RRAC) snatched the No. 1 seed in the RRAC Tournament (which begins Friday) and are heavy favorites after besting the second-place Generals (29-14, 25-8 RRAC) on the road.
On Friday, starter Bobby Vath improved his record to 12-0 with six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and notching six strikeouts.
Allbry Major and Zyon Avery each had two RBIs as three of those four runs accounted for LSUS’ early lead.
In Saturday’s first game, an eight-run fourth-inning ended a pesky Generals early big in LSUS’ 13-6 win.
The Pilots’ first six runs came across via an RBI hit or walk, highlighted by a Ryan Major two-RBI double.
The Generals crumbled a bit with a pair of runs scoring on a wild pitch and an error, respectively. Austin McNicholas tallied a game-high three RBI in the win.
The Pilots scored the first eight runs in the second game (10-7 win) before LSUS fended off a late LSUA rally in which the Generals scored all seven runs in the final three innings.
Avery started the scoring with a three-run home run before pitcher Alex Gonzalez finally closed the door on the Generals in the ninth inning by recording the final two outs, stopping a four-run frame with the tying run at the plate.
LSUS enters the RRAC Tournament on a 13-game winning streak dating back to April 9.
LSU: The No. 22 Tigers (29-14, 12-9 SEC) pulled out the series win against No. 16 Georgia with a dramatic 4-3 win Sunday.
Trailing by a run, Cade Doughty belted a walk-off, two-run home run as LSU hit three homers, the other two by Dylan Crews.
Both Doughty and Crews homered in LSU’s opening 6-2 win as the Tigers pinged three homers Friday.
On Saturday, Georgia scored eight runs in the final four innings as the Bulldogs piled up 17 hits in a 12-7 win.
LOUISIANA TECH: After being shutout in the opener, the Bulldogs’ offense rallied in wins of 10-5 and 8-4 to take the road series at Old Dominion.
Tech (30-15, 14-7 Conference USA) scored seven runs in the first three innings Sunday helped by a Steele Netterville two-RBI single to start a five-run inning in the 8-4 win.
Saturday’s early runs boosted the Bulldogs to a 10-5 win as Jorge Cordona contributed three RBIs along with a pair from Netterville and Cole McConnell.
Netterville, the Byrd High product, tied the program’s career doubles record with his 58th on Saturday.
NORTHWESTERN STATE: A three-run Jeffrey Elkins home run in the first inning allowed the Demons to prevent the series sweep Sunday in a 5-2 win against visiting Southeastern.
The Demons (21-22, 9-9 Southland Conference) tied their league record after dropping home games to SLU by scores of 6-4 and 4-2.
Four ninth-inning runs lifted the Lions in the opener before NSU’s late rally fell short in the second loss.
GSU: Grambling scored the first five runs, but the Tigers couldn’t fend off Southern as the Jaguars took the finale 14-9 Sunday for the series win.
GSU (19-24, 14-7 SWAC) protected its early lead Saturday as a 5-1 lead stood up in an 11-6 win led by Shemar Page’s three RBIs and three runs scored.
Grambling took a 5-4 lead thanks to a Trevor Hatton grand slam on Friday, but the Jaguars sent the game to extras with a ninth-inning run and won it with two 10th-inning runs.
ULM: Thirteen Warhawks were stranded Sunday as Little Rock completed the series sweep in a 7-6 win.
Both teams scored five of their runs in the final three innings, but the Trojans scored one ninth-inning run to regain its lead.
ULM (15-26-1, 6-14-1 Sun Belt) lost the opener in one-run fashion (4-3) and dropped the middle game 12-9.
BPCC: The Cavaliers (35-16-1, 23-13) split the Saturday series with Northeast Community College (Texas), winning 8-5 and losing 7-5.
A six-run fourth-inning lifted BPCC to its win while the Cavs surrendered four runs in the seventh and final inning in the 7-5 loss to finish the regular season.
The Cavs sit in fifth in Region XIV.