STERLINGTON, La. – Squaring off against two perennial NAIA powers, Oregon Tech had opportunities to earn upset wins on Day 1 of the Cajun Collision, but Central Methodist and LSU Shreveport used key hits late in the game to sweep the Hustlin' Owls at Sterlington Sports Complex.
No. 22-ranked CMU (3-0) broke a deadlock with a fifth inning 3-run Carlos Negron homer and held off a late OIT rally for a 7-6 win, while a fifth inning 2-run Vantrel Reed single breaking open a 2-0 game, as No. 5-ranked LSUS topped the Owls, 4-1.
"We play to win and felt like we were in position to win both games today against good teams," said OIT head coach
Jacob Garsez. "We competed well, but we were a play or two short in both games. The effort and competitiveness on the mound was good, our defense was great and our offense had great moments. We have a lot of confidence in our guys and we'll piece it together soon."
The Owls (0-6) struck first in the opener, as
Tyler Horner launched a fly ball into a 25 mile-per-hour jet stream out to center, circling the bases with his third home run of the season and a 1-0 lead.
After stranding runners in scoring position in the first two innings, the Eagles scored three in the third, keyed by a Jeremy Conforti 2-run homer.
OIT would answer in the bottom half, as Horner lined a 2-out, RBI double to left and scored on a dropped pop up to short.
Tied 4-4 in the fifth, Negron hit a fly ball to right-center – with the wind aiding the ball just over the fence, to give CMU the 3-run lead. The Owls would claw back – as a
Patrick Barry bunt single in the sixth plated a run and in the seventh, a double-steal scored another. However, with the tying run at first in the final frame, reliever Marcus Pritchard got a line drive to center and a pop up to end the game.
Tech starter
Bronson Chapple gave up seven earned runs on nine hits in five innings, but struck out 10 CMU batters, with reliever
Ryan Poling tossing two scoreless frames. Horner finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and
Julien Jones added a pair of hits.
Valentin Cerna was 3-for-4 for the Eagles and Bobby Nichols added two hits.
In the nightcap – the Pilots (6-1) took a 2-0 lead into the fifth, as Angel Rodriguez homered in the second and Nathaniel De La Cruz blooped a fourth inning RBI single. Reed came through in the fifth to make it 4-0, lining the 2-out, 2-run single to right.
OIT had their best scoring chances in the sixth – as
Korrey Siracusa doubled and scored on a fielding error. The Owls put runners at first and second with one out, but a strikeout and ground out ended the rally.
Starter
Patrick Arman struck out four in five innings of work in the losing cause, with Jones finishing the game 2-for-3. LSUS starter A.J. Fritz tossed four shutout innings to earn the win, with Rodriguez and Trevor Burkhart each recording two hits.
The Owls close out tournament play tomorrow with a doubleheader – beginning at 10:30 a.m. (PT) against Georgetown (Ky.) and finishing with a 4:30 p.m. (PT) date against LSU Alexandria.
