JOURNAL SPORTS 

How sweep it is.

The rebuilt LSU Shreveport baseball team completed an unlikely four-game weekend series sweep of Hope International in a matchup of the last two NAIA World Series champions, scoring two comeback victories Sunday to extend the longest winning streak in college baseball history to 65 in a row.

LSUS prevailed 19-8 and 2-1. The Pilots (6-0), ranked No. 1 in the preseason NAIA poll that has Hope at No. 4, also took two from the Royals (4-4) on Friday, 9-8 and 5-2.

“Winning the series is big,” said LSUS coach Brad Neffendorf. “When you get against teams like this, you hope you just split, to be honest with you, because they’re extremely good and they’re only going to continue to get better.”

The Pilots, who have 30 new players on the 2026 roster, clubbed 19 hits in Sunday’s opener, including a pair of triples by Quaterrion Walton, who scored four runs. Makana Olaso drove In four while going 4-for-5 with a home run.

The nightcap was dramatic. LSUS scored its runs in the bottom of the eighth when Carlos Sanchez ripped a double off the centerfield wall and held Hope off the board in the top of the ninth.

LSUS got a one-hit, five-inning start from Virot Siharath who left with a shutout, and Robert Lastra closed out the final three innings with scoreless work to earn the win.

Last  year’s Pilots were 59-0 on the way to the program’s first national title, beating Hope twice in the NAIA World Series, the second time in a semifinal matchup to eliminate the Royals.

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