By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – So far, it is looking like William Carey baseball will ride its bullpen in 2022, if the results from Wednesday are any indication.
The Crusaders weathered a 3-0 first-inning deficit and came back to defeat LSU-Alexandria 8-5 at Milton Wheeler Field, thanks to excellent work by their bullpen. Carey relievers struck out 17 batters, did not walk any and allowed just two runs in the final 8 2/3 innings.
WCU improved to 9-3 for the season; LSU-A dropped to 3-5.
“We came into the season believing that Dario Herrera and Caeleb Williams would be big for us, and they showed that tonight,” said Carey coach Bobby Halford. “They came in and put a stop to it.”
Things did not look so good at the outset, as Crusader freshman starter Alik Avila couldn’t get out of the first inning. The right-hander walked the first two batters he faced, then hit the third with a pitch.
Avila got a strikeout, but surrendered another walk to drive in a run, then a two-run single off the bat of Ivan Prejean to give the Generals a 3-0 lead.
Halford went right to the bullpen for Herrera, and all the sophomore left-hander did was slam the door shut.
“This was my first time doing that,” said Herrera. “I just threw strikes. That’s it.”
Herrera got swinging strikeouts to end the first inning, then just kept making the Generals miss with curves and sliders, especially in the low corners, and kept LSU-A off the scoreboard.
“I was throwing my two-seam and it was cutting really well and moving a lot,” said Herrera. “That was my best pitch.”
Herrera had some trouble in the fifth, when a leadoff single and a two-out double put runners at second and third. But his next pitch was a popup to second base to end the inning.
And that was about the time the Crusaders woke up offensively.
After doing very little in the first four innings against Generals starter Cameron Daigle, a hit in each inning with no result, Carey put three runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth and sent LSU-A into its bullpen.
Senior Jordan Szush got things started for the Crusaders with a one-out single. Junior Patrick Lee got an infield single to deep shortstop, then with two out, sophomore Jake Lycette singled to leftfield to drive in a run.
Senior Wiley Cleland followed by dribbling a ground ball into centerfield to plate two more runs and a tie game.
For Szush, it was the start of what the Crusaders hope is a breakout game for their senior shortstop. He had three singles and two RBIs after coming into the game with a .139 batting average.
“I’ve struggled early in the year, so I’ve been trying to change things around with my approach,” said Szush, who starts at shortstop for the Crusaders. “I’ve been trying to work on things to see the ball out of the pitcher’s hand a little better to get my team some runs to win the game.”
Herrera went back out for the top of the sixth, and he managed two outs, but his tank ran dry, as he surrendered two runs on three hits.
Prejean got a leadoff double and went to third on a contested play in which the Crusaders claimed he did not tag up when a sharply hit ball from junior Brant Leslie was caught on a diving catch by Lee in centerfield.
The field umpire called Prejean out, but he was overruled by the plate umpire and allowed to take third base. He scored on a ground ball to shortstop.
Another single, a hit batter and an RBI single by sophomore Jordan Ardoin drove in another run and finished Herrera’s night. He scattered six hits on 89 pitches in 5 1/3 innings, struck out 12 and did not walk a batter.
“He just ran out of gas,” said Halford. “That was probably the longest stint of his career, which is not normal for him, but he was throwing so well we had to leave him in there.”
Trailing again 5-3, Carey wasted no time in getting to Generals sophomore Brandon Noel in the bottom of the inning. Noel came on in the fifth and got a quick strikeout to end the inning, but he had trouble finding the zone in the sixth.
Senior Magruder O’Bannon drew a leadoff walk and sophomore Kris Jones was hit by a pitch. Sophomore Caleb Laird hit a sacrifice bunt up the middle, but Noel chose to go to third with the throw and freshman Brandon Gant, courtesy running for O’Bannon, beat it out.
That loaded the bases for Szush, who took Noel to a full count before poking a single over the second baseman’s head. Gant scored easily and Jones came across with the tying run when the ball was mishandled in rightfield.
Laird was called out trying to score from third on a pitch that got past the catcher, but Szush took third on the play and he was balked home for the go-ahead run.
“I thought offensively, we got off to a slow start, then kind of picked it as we went along,” said Halford. “We’ve been doing that all year.
“We felt like if we could keep it close, we could come back, and our guys have done that all season.
Nevertheless, Carey added two insurance runs in the eighth. Jones was hit by a pitch to lead off. Laird again tried to sacrifice and again he reached when the third baseman and pitcher collided, forcing an errant throw.
Back came Szush, and he answered by jumping on the first pitch for a single into centerfield to drive in a run, and Lycette drove in another run with one out by beating the relay on a possible double-play ball after tapping a slow roller up the middle.
“We’ve really started pulling together to get it done,” said Szush. “(In the eighth inning) I was just ready to hop on the first thing that came down the middle, offspeed pitch or maybe a fastball. Luckily, it was a fastball and I got right on top of it.”
That was more than enough for sophomore right-handers Williams and John Snyder.
Williams came on in the sixth with two on and two out and got a flyball to rightfield on his first pitch, then sent six up and six down in the seventh and eighth innings before turning it over to Snyder.
Snyder needed just 12 pitches to nail it down, pitching around a two-out bloop single to earn his first save of the season. Williams (1-0) was in the right spot in the game for the victory, while Noel (0-2) was in the wrong spot for his team and took the loss.
“A couple of things that concern me is we’re getting off to late starts offensively, and we’ve been spotting teams runs with walks early in the game,” said Halford. “That’s an area we need to get better at.
“But I like where we are with this group. I like how we’ve battled. I think that’s been the hallmark of our season so far. They don’t panic when they get behind, and I think that’s the mark of a good team.”
WCU will host Bryant & Stratton-Albany in a three-game series this weekend, 4 p.m. Friday for a single game and 1 p.m. Saturday for a doubleheader. The Crusaders will make the return trip to Louisiana at 4 p.m. next Wednesday to complete the home-home series with LSU-A.
College Baseball Linescore
Wednesday at Milton Wheeler Field
William Carey 8, LSU-Alexandria 5
LSUA 300 002 000 – 5 8 3
WCU 000 033 02X – 8 10 1
LSU-ALEXANDRIZ (3-5): Julien Kliebert 1B; Jordan Ardoin 2 1B; Keith McKigney 1B; Peyton Marcantel 2B; Ivan Prejean 2B, 1B. LP – Brandon Noel (0-2). Also pitching – Cameron Daigle (starter); James Gary; Rene Solis.
WILLIAM CAREY (9-3): R.J. Stinson 3B, 1B; Jake Lycette 1B; Wiley Cleland 1B; Chris Williams 2B; Kris Jones 1B; Jordan Szush 3 1B. WP – Caeleb Williams (1-0). Save – John Snyder (1). Also pitching – Alik Avila (starter); Dario Herrera (12 Ks).
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
