The LSU Eunice freshman duo of Alec Beversdorf and Tyson LeBlanc guided the Bengals to an 11-3 victory over Pearl River CC on Wednesday in the Region 23 Tournament. LSUE, now sitting at 50-7 on the season, scored 10 unanswered runs, delivering the Wildcats their worst margin of defeat this season.
The win also helped LSUE eclipse the 50-win plateau for the fourth time in the last five full seasons and the 12th time under the direction of ABCA and NJCAA Hall of Fame head coach Jeff Willis.
The Bengals were first on the board in the opening inning, using a Dawson Willis walk and Tyson LeBlanc RBI double to go ahead 1-0. Pearl River answered in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run home run to give the Wildcats a temporary 3-1 lead. It would awaken the Bengals’ offense with a big six-run third inning. Leblanc would once again deliver with an RBI double to score Andrew Lee and slice into the deficit. A bases-loaded walk and Teddy Johnson’s RBI sacrifice fly put LSUE back in front for good before Collin Husser launched a towering three-run home run over the elevated wall in straight away center to give LSUE a commanding 7-3 advantage. That was plenty for the Bengals thanks to a masterful outing on the mound by Alec Beversdorf.
Beversdorf rallied from the first-inning home run to squash the Pearl River offense, allowing just three more hits in his 6.2 innings of work. The freshman struck out 11 batters, his third double-digit strikeout performance of the season. The Texas native retired the Wildcats in order in his final two innings of work.
The Bengals padded their lead with runs in the fifth and sixth as Johnson produced his second RBI of the day with a single, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Bennett Clement to plate Dawson Willis.
LeBlanc fittingly wrapped up the blowout win with a two-run home run in the ninth inning. LeBlanc went 4-for-5 on the afternoon, tallying four RBIs and three runs scored. All of his hits went for extra bases as the freshman produced three doubles. Willis scored three runs while Johnson and Husser added multi-RBI games.
Liam Watt and Nick Gisclair combined for 2.1 innings of shutout relief. Watt recorded three strikeouts while Gisclair worked around a walk in the ninth inning.