Double dose

The LSUE Bengals and Lady Bengals took to the field Wednesday for their opening round games of the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament.
Both squads are trying to earn the right to vie for a shot at the National Championship. The Lady Bengals have won five national titles since 2011. The Bengals are six time champions with their first title coming in 2006. The two teams have never won national championships in the same year.
The Lady Bengals began their quest with a 7-2 win over Pearl River in the opening game of their tournament in Poplarville, Mississippi.
The win put LSUE in the semi-finals against Itawamba Thursday afternoon. The winner of that game secures a spot in the championship and berth in the National Tournament.
The game started as a pitcher’s duel between LSUE’s Jenson Howell and Pearl River’s Gracie Barnett, as neither team managed to plate a run in their first two at bats.
Pearl River got on the board first in the top of the third when Neely McCloud singled to center field and later scored on an error by the Lady Bengal defense.
LSUE took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs on two hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. The big hit of the inning; Lexi-Jo DeBarge’s pinch hit two-run single.
The two teams exchanged runs in the fifth inning to make it a 5-2 ballgame. The Lady Bengals finished off the contest with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth with Malory Little driving a pitch over the left field wall for a two-run dinger.
The Bengals also came up big with a 8-6 win over Northwest Mississippi Community College thanks in part to a grand slam home run off the bat of Austin Kirkpatrick.
The tournament, being played in Fulton, Mississippi, moved to day two on Thursday with LSUE facing off against Itawamba. A win there and another win on Friday would put the Bengals in the championship game scheduled for yesterday.
Just like the Lady Bengals, the Bengals also fell behind early in the contest when Northwest Mississippi put up four runs in the top of the second inning.
LSUE chipped away at that lead, picking up single runs in both the third and fourth innings. After the Rangers added a run in the top of the fifth, the Bengals climbed on top for the first time in the game with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Jarrett McDonald walked and scored later in the inning on a single by designated hitter Nick Bellina.
Two batters later, Kirkpatrick hammered a 1-2 slider to left center to give LSUE its first lead of the game, 7-5. It was the captain’s third home run of the season and Kirkpatrick’s first since March 9.
Both teams added a run in the eighth inning. However, relief pitcher Landon Clifton finished off the Rangers in the ninth inning to pick up the save.