Box Score Box Score
PINEVILLE – For the third straight game the Wildcats offense was able to score double-digit runs and the latest victims of the onslaught were the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers, whom LC defeated 15-10 on a soggy home field Tuesday.

LC, which improved to 6-9 on the year, was able to score three runs in the first, six in the third, five in the seventh and one in the eighth to set up the win, one registered by freshman Anthony VanGessel (Tioga, La./Tioga High), who pitched the final three innings of the nine-inning contest.

VanGessel, one of five hurlers employed by LC Coach Mike Byrnes, struck out three and allowed just one hit in his three innings of work.

But for a middle-inning lapse by the LC defense, VanGessel might have been pitching for a three-inning save, however, the Wildcats were unable to hold onto a 9-3 lead heading into the fifth.

LC allowed five runs in the top of the fifth then fell behind 10-9 after allowing two runs in the sixth before rallying to score six unanswered runs in the final third of the game.

Edgar Hernandez, pitching in relief for the Tigers, took the loss.

Perhaps the best news of the day for the Wildcats was not just that they picked up a victory but that they did so with a heretofore rare display of power hitting.

For the first time this season LC benefitted from more than one home run in a game.

Leadoff man Cody Laprarie (Dry Prong, La./Grant High/LSU-Alexandria) belted a solo shot to start the game, one in which he finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two batted in.

In the third, third baseman Walt McGee (Pineville, La./Pineville High) crushed a three-run shot to the opposite field (right-center in his case). McGee finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs scored and five driven in.

Other offensive notables for the Wildcats included: Mike Doughty (Crowley, La./ LSU-Eunice), Chris Waguespack (Destrehan, La./St. Charles Catholic/Delgado Community College), Jonathan Ettinger (Vicksburg, Miss./Warren Central High/Hinds Community College), Jon Michael Kidd (West Monroe, La./West Monroe High/Arkansas-Monticello) and Brandt Daigle (Alexandria, La./Alexandria Senior High).

Doughty went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, Ettinger 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI, Waguespack 3-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored, Kidd 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored and Daigle 2-for-4 with one run scored and one batted in.

The Wildcats also made themselves known on the base paths, going 6-for-6 on steals.

Kidd and Steven Davis (Monroe, La./Ouachita Parish High) swiped two bases apiece while Daigle and Steven Bowman (Hammond, La./ Hammond High/Southwest Mississippi Community College) stole one apiece.

LC will next move on to the start of American Southwest Conference East Divisional play with a three game road series at Mississippi College.

The Wildcats and Choctaws will square off in one nine-inning game at 6 p.m. on Friday and follow with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Saturday in Clinton, Miss.