STERLINGTON, La. – The No.11-ranked IU Southeast baseball team used some timely hitting and clutch plays defensively to defeat No. 6 LSU-Shreveport 5-4 before falling to No. 2 University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma 10-2 to conclude the Cajun Collision tournament on Monday.
The Grenadiers (5-5) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against LSU-Shreveport when Brody Tanksley hit a two-run home run to left for his fourth home run of the year. He drove in Santrel Farmer who led off the game by being hit by a pitch.
But the Pilots (4-3) answered right back with a home run in the bottom of the second when Austin McNicholas led off the inning with a home run.
The Grenadiers used a two-out rally in the third to scratch across another run when Tanksley singled to center to score Daunte DeCello who had reached on a walk, advanced to second on a balk and stole third.
Drew Hensley retired the side in order in the third and Matt Monahan hit a solo home run to left-center to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Pilots struck for two runs in the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out. Carlos Pineyro singled to left to score Payton Robertson which chased starter Drew Hensley. Jacob Frankel balked to bring in the second run of the inning but he was able to strike out Jake Vesecky to end the inning.
Daunte DeCello got a run back when he hit a towering home run to left to extend the lead to 5-3 on his first home run of the season.
Frankel allowed one run in the fifth but shut down the Pilots in the sixth and the seventh, including retiring them in order in the seventh to earn his second save.
Brody Tanksley had two hits and drove in three and DeCello scored twice and drove in a run. Drew Hensley (2-1) worked four innings allowing three runs on four hits while striking out two and walking two.
The Grenadiers fell behind 2-0 to Science and Arts of Oklahoma in the final game of the day. Jake Scott responded with a two-run double with the bases loaded and Matt Monahan was thrown out at the plate trying to give the Grenadiers the lead.
A pair of three-run innings in the fifth and the sixth put the game away for USAO. Cristian Laboy hit a two-run home run in the sixth to extend the lead to 8-2 and followed with a two-run double in the seventh to cap off the game.
IU Southeast concludes the five-game road trip with a stop at Cumberland University Tuesday at 2 p.m. E.T. Visiting fans are not permitted.
