CROWLEY -- Despite a valiant effort on the mound from pitcher Cody Shipp, the Sacred Heart Trojans were unable to overcome an early lead from the Notre Dame Pioneers and fell 3-2 in a non-district contest here Tuesday afternoon.
Shipp went six innings, giving up one earned run on five hits while striking out four and walking only one. Meanwhile, the Trojan offense could only muster four hits on the afternoon and left four runners in scoring position.
With the loss Sacred Heart is now 12-6-1 on the season. The Trojans will host University Academy tomorrow and False River on Tuesday for their first District 5-1A tilt. Game times are set for 4 p.m. for both contests.
Sacred Heart came out swinging the bats early on in the contest. The Trojans hit the ball hard, but unfortunately it went straight to the gloves of the Nortre Dame defense, as Sacred Heart was unable to pick up a hit until the top of the third inning.
The Pioneers, after being shut down in the bottom of the first inning, found a way to pick up two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Will Veillon reached third base on a throwing error to lead off the at bat.
Matt Abshire followed with a double to left field, scoring Veillon, and moved to third on a balk. After Shipp retired Gabe Doucet on a strikeout, John Hoffpauir plated Abshire on a double to right-center field.
Shipp then retired the side by forcing a fly ball to center field and a ground out to second base.
The Trojans cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the third inning. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Jacob Castille tripled into right field and scored on a passed ball with JT Harper at the plate.
Harper walked, stole second and reached third on a passed ball, but was stranded at the bag when a strikeout ended the at bat.
The next two at bats for both teams did not produce any runs. However, Notre Dame was able to extend the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Abshire reached on an error to lead things off and reached second base on a steal. Doucet was sent back to the dugout when Shipp struck him out.
Hoffpauir singled home Abshire, but was put out attempting to reach second base. Kane Bergeron followed with a single, but Shipp induced Chase Habetz to pop up to second base.
In the top of the fifth inning, Sacred Heart did manage to get a runner to second base, but was unable to push that run across the plate. Likewise, the Pioneers had a runner at third base with two outs but Collin Kirsch failed to reach the plate on an attempted steal.
In the top of the sixth, the Trojans were able to bring the Notre Dame lead back down to one run. Garrett Fontenot led off with a single and scored on a triple off of the bat of Alec Gotro. After two strikeouts, Gotro was caught between third and home plate for the final out of the inning.
Sacred Heart came to bat once more in the top of the seventh inning, but could not get a runner near scoring position to try and tie the game up.
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TRACEY JAGNEAUX