JOURNAL SPORTS
LSUS has completed another dominating regular season and takes a nation-leading 23-game win streak into this weekend’s Red River Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament as the host school at the Sterlington Sports Complex in Sterlington, Louisiana.
The Pilots are 42-6 overall and finished RRAC play 27-3, five games ahead of second-place Louisiana Christian University (22-8). It is their eighth regular-season championship and they will be playing for a 14th conference tournament championship.
They lead the conference or are near the top of most every statistical category. Their .361 batting average is 31 points higher than the next team, and 2.74 earned run average is well below the next at 4.07.
Individually, outfielder Ryan Major leads the team with a .497 average that is fourth in all of NAIA and his 43 stolen bases is second in the country. He leads the team with 22 doubles and eight triples, 50 RBIs and sports a .754 slugging percentage and .531 on base percentage.
Sophomore Josh Gibson heads up the infield and is hitting .402 with a team-best .544 on base percentage. He has 13 doubles, a triple and team-leading 32 walks. Junior AJ Fritz is second to Major in RBI with 45 and has a .385 average and .638 slugging percentage.
Sophomore righthanded pitcher Bobby Vath is tied for second in the nation with 11 wins and has suffered only one loss on the season. He has a 2.45 ERA, third on the team, and leads all pitchers with 66 innings and 71 strikeouts. Senior lefty Cameron Prayer leads the team with a 2.05 ERA is 7-0 on the season with 58 strikeouts in 62 2-3 innings.
LSUS will open the tournament Friday against Southwest Assemblies of God at 5 p.m.
Other tournament games on Friday match Texas A&M Texarkana vs. LSUA and Houston-Victoria vs. Our Lady of the Lake both at 1 p.m. and Jarvis Christian plays Louisiana Christian at 5 p.m. All games are at the Sterlington Sports Complex.
