Indians fall to No. 1 LSU-Eunice in NJCAA Region 23 winner's bracket semifinals
"I'm not going to make any excuses," said ICC head coach Rick Collier. "Eunice is a good team and they proved why the are considered the best team in the country. We didn't play our best baseball and you have to play a perfect game against a team like they have."
LSU-Eunice advanced to the championship game of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 23 Tournament with a 17-2 win over ICC in six innings in its own backyard on Friday.
"I'm not going to make any excuses," said ICC head coach Rick Collier. "Eunice is a good team and they proved why the are considered the best team in the country. We didn't play our best baseball and you have to play a perfect game against a team like they have."
The Indians (39-12) got on the board when Drew Alford reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeremy Ferguson. Chris Hannig drew a walk and scored on a single by Tyler Tipton in the bottom of the fourth.
The Bengals (51-4) put up four runs in the second and four more in the fourth before putting the game away with a six-run sixth inning.
Dylan Earnest (5-2) was the pitcher of record for the Indians, who only managed five hits against game winner Cody Boutte (7-1).
Cody Shrewbury, Jake Smithey, Channing Nanney and Zack Randolph each added a single with Tipton.
The Indians will play No. 14 Hinds Community College (35-17) in the elimination semifinal game tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.
"I told the guys after the game we still have a pulse and another chance to play tomorrow. Baseball is a crazy game, you don't know what's going to happen from one game to the next."
The winner of that game will advance to the 7:00 p.m. championship game. If necessary, the second championship game will be Sunday at 1:00 p.m.