Richard Pharr
The LSU-Shreveport Pilots, 27-3 and ranked #6 in the NAIA, defeated the Southern Arkansas Muleriders 7-6 in 12 innings, in a key cross-divisional matchup. Southern Arkansas is 21-7 and ranked #1 in Division II.
2B David Bradley smashed a game-winning double with two outs in the top of the 12th, scoring SS Andrew Blubaugh all the way from first base to win it for the Pilots.
Rchard Pharr was outstanding in relief for the Pilots, pitching four hitless innings and earning his third win of the season. Pharr did not allow a single hit in his four innings pitched to help lift the Pilots to the win. He is 3-1, 3.86 ERA for the season.
The Pilots took the early lead with a two-run home run by 3B Stephen Hobbins in the second inning. It was Hobbins’ first home run of his collegiate career. The Muleriders got one back in the third inning, and took the lead with a two-RBI double by RF Patrick Johnson in the fourth. The Pilots went up 5-3 in the fifth on an RBI double by C Andrew Brouillette, a run scored on a passed ball, and a run scored on a ground out by Blubaugh. The Muleriders tied it at 5 on a two-RBI triple by 2B Nick Paschal in the bottom of the sixth.
The Pilots went ahead again on a home run by Brouillette in the top of the seventh, and the Muleriders sent it into extra innings in the bottom of the eighth, when Johnson hit a triple with two out, and scored on a wild pitch.
Brouillette, who is hitting .533 with nine home runs for the Pilots, finished the night 3-for-6 with a homerun, two doubles and two RBIs. The Pilots’ starter, J.V. Lafitte, went five innings, allowed only two hits, but walked four.
The Muleriders got only five hits in twelve innings; Johnson got two of them. Brendan McDonald, who came close to matching Pharr’s performance, got the loss. He threw 81 pitches in four innings of relief, recorded eight strikeouts, and the only hit he allowed was Bradley’s double.
