Meridian sweeps BRCC
After dropping both legs of its doubleheader Saturday, the weekend woes continued for the Baton Rouge Community College baseball team as Meridian Community College completed the sweep of the Bears with an 8-4 win Sunday afternoon at Pete Goldsby Field.
Meridian’s two wins Saturday gave the Eagles the 2012 Region 23 Miss Lou Conference crown as well as home field rights in the Region 23 tournament, beginning May 10.
Sunday’s shot at redemption seemed to be heading BRCC’s way early. The Bears struck first in the opening frame, when an RBI single by sophomore James Rachal scored leadoff man Bond Babin.
Meridian answered with two runs in the second off a pair of BRCC fielding errors — a recurring theme for the Bears on the afternoon.
“We win the baseball game if we eliminate three errors that cost us runs — one mental error and two fielding errors,” said BRCC coach L.J. Dupuy. “Those errors were costly. It’s something we talked about before the game, and it’s something that cost us this game.”
The Eagles widened their margin with a four-run, two-out rally in the third, aided again by shoddy defense.
“The mental error of not being at first base when the ball was hit to the right side, which would have been the third out, that’s the inning they got the four runs in,” Dupuy said. “They wouldn’t have had any of those runs. It’s the little things like that that really cost us.”
Meridian added another in the fifth on a towering home run by freshman first baseman Mike Williams, extending the Eagles lead to 7-3.
The Bears chipped away at the deficit, tacking on a run in fifth off an RBI single by freshman center fielder Bo Parker, scoring sophomore catcher Lee Elisar.
BRCC pulled within three, scoring one run again in the sixth powered by freshman second baseman Jacob Williams’ second RBI, but the Bears didn’t score again the rest of the afternoon.
“We needed a lift, and we needed to come out and crush the baseball and get some excitement, and we didn’t,” Dupuy said. “The pitcher did a good job on us.”
With only one weekend series left before the Region 23 tournament, the Bears must regroup as they travel next weekend to face San Jacinto.
“We’ve got to be prepared for those guys as if it was the regional tournament,” Dupuy said.
After being held to nine hits and with a rematch with Meridian imminent in the regional, Dupuy said the solution for a different outcome in postseason play is simple — play better.
“That pitcher dominated us, and we have to beat this team in that tournament,” Dupuy said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us to get that done. We’ll really work hard this week for San Jacinto, and hopefully next week after evaluating the games this weekend, we’ll see where we’re at and hopefully be ready to play in the tournament.”