Box Score (Game One) | Box Score (Game Two)
BATESVILLE, Ark. – The 18th-ranked Lyon College baseball team earned a pair of comeback victories as the Scots completed a doubleheader sweep of No. 9 LSU-Shreveport on Tuesday afternoon at Scots Field. The Scots rallied back from a one-run deficit to earn an 8-7 win in game one before they rebounded from a five-run hole early in the nightcap and completed the sweep with a 19-7 victory. Lyon improved to 25-10 with the two wins, while LSUS slipped to 29-7.
Prior to the twin bill, Lyon College Director of Athletics, Kevin Jenkins, presented Lyon College head baseball coach with a game ball from his 300th-career win. Coach Roepcke earned his milestone victory on Feb. 26, when the Scots defeated NCAA Division II Henderson State, 9-7, in Arkadelphia, Ark.
Game One: #18 Lyon 8, #9 LSUS 7
A pair of five-run innings opened up the first game of Tuesday's twin bill between the Scots and Pilots. Lyon took an early lead with five runs in the bottom of the first before LSU-Shreveport responded with five runs of their own in the top of the second. The Pilots overtook the lead, 6-5, on a solo home run by Taylor Fajardo in the top of the third inning.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Scots regained the lead. Kyle West opened up a two-out rally with a walk before Tristan Buschow singled to put runners on first and second for the Scots. Zane Pritchard came up next for the Scots and roped a ball into the gap in right-center field that brought home West and Buschow and gave Lyon a 7-6 advantage.
The Scots added a key insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tanner Seibel drew a lead-off walk before he moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Dalton Ernest. After Jake Michener got hit by a pitch, the pair moved up an extra base on a passed ball. The passed ball proved costly for the Pilots as Troy Strack singled home Seibel to extend the Scots' lead to 8-6.
LSU-Shreveport attempted to tie the game up in the top of the seventh as the Pilots cut the deficit in half with an RBI-double off the bat of Jordan Trahan, but Ethan Denney got the next two batters out to end the rally as he earned his fourth save of the season.
Jordan Olivera earned his first collegiate victory as he tossed three innings of scoreless relief with four strikeouts.
Strack led the Scots offensively in game one as he went 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI and one run scored.
Game Two: #18 Lyon 19, #9 LSUS 7
LSUS jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two runs in the first and three more in the second before the comeback began for the Scots. Buschow got hit by a pitch to open up a one-out rally before three consecutive singles by Andrew Schnitzius, Ryan Clack and Seibel led to two runs. The Scots added to their total after Ernest and Michener worked back-to-back walks to cut the deficit to 5-3 after three innings in the books.
The Scots overtook the lead with four runs on one hit in the bottom of the fourth thanks to six walks in the inning.
Lyon broke the game open in the fifth and sixth inning as the Scots scored 12 total runs between the two frames. Kylan Barnett belted his fourth home run of the season – a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth - before the Scots added 10 more runs in the bottom of the sixth. The highlight of the sixth inning came off the bat of Cameron Hockle as he hit his first collegiate home run – a grand slam over the wall in left field.
LSU-Shreveport added two more runs in the top of the seventh, but the game was already well out of reach.
The Scots drew 14 total walks in the nightcap. Buschow finished 2-for-2 in the game with two RBI and three runs scored.
Morry Watson improved to 2-0 on the mound as he tossed two innings of scoreless relief.
The Scots will return to American Midwest Conference play this weekend when they travel to Lindenwood-Belleville. The three-game series will open up on Friday afternoon with a single nine-inning game at 3 p.m.
Baseball Contact: Matt Jagodzinski | 870-307-7516 | matthew.jagodzinski@lyon.ed
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