Broncos Fall in First 2 Games in Louisiana
(Sterlington, LA) – Heading down to Louisiana for a four-game trip, Hastings lost the opener 8-4 to Louisiana Christian, then led 2-0 against Park though five innings, before falling 5-2 on Friday evening.
(Sterlington, LA) – Heading down to Louisiana for a four-game trip, Hastings lost the opener 8-4 to Louisiana Christian, then led 2-0 against Park though five innings, before falling 5-2 on Friday evening.
Hastings got on the board in the first inning against Louisiana Christian, starting with a leadoff walk from sophomore Tyler Rojas and a double from junior Evan Morrison put two in scoring position. Senior Spencer Searcey drove in Rojas with a base hit to center, then Morrison stole home on a double-steal, putting the Broncos up 2-0.
Louisiana Christian answered with a pair of runs with one out to tie the game at two after one inning. The Wildcats doubled their lead with two more in the second coming on unearned runs with two out.
In the top half of the third, Rojas tripled to right with one out and Morrison brought him home with an RBI double. Searcey walked and with two out, an RBI-single by junior Dylan Wimbs tied it at four.
The first five batters for Louisiana Christian reached in the next half-inning, scoring two runs to retake the lead at 6-4. Hastings had runners on first and second in the fifth with two outs, but the Wildcats got out of the inning without giving up a run. The Wildcats added to their lead in the bottom of the six, scoring two runs on a base hit to left, leading to the 8-4 defeat.
Morrison went 4-4 for the Broncos with two runs and an RBI. Rojas scored two runs, going 1-3 at the plate with a walk. Senior Aleczander Hardy had three scoreless innings of relief pitching, allowing just two hits and striking out one.
In their matchup against Park, freshman Connor Weber took the mound and got a strikeout with runners at the corners and two away to get out of the inning. Rojas continued that momentum with a leadoff home run in the bottom half of the inning to go up 1-0.
No more scoring occurred until the fourth when Hastings added a run to lead 2-0. Sophomore Cody Haynes led off with a walk and after advancing to second on a fielder's choice and stealing third, junior Carter Guiton drew a walk and senior Jace Valdez drove in Haynes with an RBI-single to center.
Weber, who finished with eight strikeouts, did not allow a run in his five innings with eight strikeouts, allowing just one hit and the two first-inning base runners that reached via hit-by-pitch. With Hastings going to the bullpen to start the sixth, Park got one run back in that inning, as a leadoff walk turned into a two-out RBI single.
The Pirates started their seventh inning offensively by reaching on an error, which led to three consecutive singles to score a run. A second run came across on a wild pitch, then a single to center field brought in two more Pirates to pull ahead 5-2, all with no outs. Searcey got the final three outs of the inning, which included two strikeouts.
In the bottom of the seventh, Morrison and Bruno got on with back-to-back one-out walks and moved up 90 feet on a groundout, but were left stranded on a popout to end the game.
Up next, Hastings will play two more in Louisiana, beginning with LSU Alexandria at 11am and Texas A&M Texarkana at 2:30pm.
