NAIA
[Baseball] PILOTS SWEEP WILLIAM CAREY DOUBLE-HEADER (2-0, 15-2)
The #12 LSUS Pilots won both of their mid-week matchups against the William Carey Crusaders today. The Pilots received a masterful performance from Kevin Miranda on the mound to win game one 2-0. Then the Pilots offense exploded in game two for an 11-run first inning on their way to a 15-2 rout to close the day. LSUS is now 20-4 on the season and 5-1 in RRAC games heading into this weekend against Texas College.GAME ONEThe story from game one was the tremendous pitching performance from starter Kevin Miranda. Miranda carried the Pilots in the close affair by firing 6 and 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. The right-hander struck out fives batters and allowed just five hits without allowing a run. He nearly completed the game before running into trouble in the top of the seventh. After allowing a double that put the tying run on second base, Head Coach Brad Neffendorf went to the bullpen and brought in freshman Trey Rugg. Rugg was up to the task of closing out the game as he got a pop-up and strikeout to finish off the win and pick up his second save of the season. The victory for Miranda moves him to 4-1 on the year.Offensively, the Pilots were a little quiet in game one but found a way to provide runs for Miranda. In the fourth inning of a scoreless game, Austin McNicholas singled and then stole second before being driven in by Owen Naperalski to take the lead. The Pilots would add another insurance run in the sixth inning with a JJ Flores RBI single.McNicholas was the only Pilot to pick up multiple hits in the contest and he singled twice and scored one of the two LSUS runs. Flores and Naperalski each provided an RBI. The Pilots defense was flawless in game one committing no errors and backing Miranda with solid plays in the field. GAME TWO – BOX SCOREThe story in game two was what the Pilots accomplished in inning number one. They scored their most runs in a single inning this season by ambushing the Crusaders with an 11-spot to open the game. The Pilots took advantage of a number of walks in the inning before Ryne Ray capped off the inning with a three-run homer to make it an 11-0 game at the end of one. The Pilots offense would add another run in the third inning on a solo shot from Austin McNicholas. LSUS bats went quiet before adding three more in the bottom of the 6th to put up a 15-run game in just seven innings. The 15-2 victory was the Pilots largest margin of victory in a game this season.On the mound, Luisdiego Quintana received the start and threw a scoreless first inning before giving way to the bullpen. LD was awarded the win and moves to 5-0 on the season. From there, the Pilots would use six more pitchers to pick up their 20th win of the season. Marco Gutierrez (1 IP, 1 ER), Colton Sellers (1 IP, 1ER), Austin Tambellini (1 IP, 0 ER), Josh Fortenberry, (1 IP 0 ER), Corey Bellot (0.1 IP, 0 ER) and Ross Capone (1 IP, 0 ER) took care of business to shutdown William Carey.Ryne Ray finished the day with two hits including his HR and four RBI. Austin McNicholas continued to swing a hot bat by going 2-3 with the HR and a pair of walks with three runs scored.