ALEXANDRIA, LA – The Louisiana State University of Alexandria baseball team dropped the first game of the Red River Athletic Conference Championship Opening Round, 5-4, to Texas A&M- Texarkana.
Carter Fabre tossed 6.2 strong innings, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits. He struck out three. The Generals (32-14) scattered six hits and scored all four of their runs in the final three innings.
Landon Langley recorded a pair of hits.
The Eagles (27-23) hit two home runs and collected 10 hits as a team. Tanner Duncan earned the win in relief. He allowed one earned run over 1.1 innings of work. Ahmar Donatto, who started the game as the Eagles' shortstop, recorded his first save of the year. Donatto also collected four hits at the plate.
Both offenses were quiet through three innings. An RBI triple from Brandon Sheets in the fourth gave the Eagles a slim 1-0 lead but the bats went quiet again until the seventh when Austin Kerns hit a solo home run to left field.
In the bottom of the inning, an RBI ground out from
Lane Patin cut the deficit in half. Cade LaBruyere then reached on a fielding error, allowing
Colin Ardoin to score and tie the game at 2-2.
Sheets continued to prove dangerous at the plate in the eighth, blasting a two-run shot to right field for a 4-2 lead. James Provencio tacked on an insurance run later in the inning, driving in Jayce Blalock with a single up the middle to make it 5-2 Texarkana.
A sacrifice fly from Langley in the eighth pulled the Generals within two.
Shae Thibodeaux led off the ninth with a sinking line drive to center. A dive from Tobin Jones saw the ball scamper past him to the wall while Thibodeaux sped around the bases for an inside the park home run and a 5-4 ball game.
Evan Rohlfs-Schadel then drew a four-pitch walk. Ardoin came on as a pinch runner and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Patin. Jeb Drewery came on in relief and forced a fly out from the only hitter he faced. Jones then came to the mound and walked
Cameren Parks. Jones was lifted for Donatto.
Dalton Wilson reached on an error to load the bases, and put the tying run just 90 feet away with two outs, but Donatto forced a ground ball to end the game.
The Generals and Eagles square-off in game two tomorrow, April 25, at 3:00 PM from Generals Baseball Field.
