TEXARKANA, Texas – After a tough doubleheader sweep on Friday, the Louisiana Christian University baseball team belted out 17 hits and 13 runs in the series finale as the Wildcats salvaged a game against Texas A&M-Texarkana, winning Saturday's contest 13-5 at George Dobson Field.
 
The offensive output that started in Friday's nightcap continued into Saturday's game as the Wildcats plated two runs in the first inning and never looked back. Alex Ashby hit a single with one out to get things started. He stole second, moved to third on Nick Burnet's base hit to left, and scored on Ju'Juan Franklin's RBI single to center. After a balk moved Brunet and Franklin up 90 feet, Haydon Helms came through with a two-out infield base hit that scored Brunet for the 2-0 lead. TAMUT would get an unearned run across in the bottom half to make the score 2-1 after one full inning of play.
 
After both teams brought the minimum to the plate in the second inning, it was in the third inning where both teams broke through on the scoreboard again. After Alex Ashby led off the top of the third with a double, Ju'Juan Franklin came up with one out and blasted his second home run of the series, a two-run shot to make it 4-1 Wildcats. But the Eagles had a response in the bottom half, taking advantage of an error to start the frame to plate two unearned runs in response to LCU's two runs in the top half and make it 4-3 Wildcats after three.
 
But in the fourth, LCU started to pull away. After Jacob Fowler and Beau Freeman both started the inning with base hits and they both moved up on another balk, Ty Morgan brought them both home with a base hit to left for a 6-3 Wildcat lead.
 
That lead grew in the fifth, and again it came off the bat of the Wildcat catcher. With runners on second and third and two outs, Ty Morgan shot a base hit up through the left side, scoring Haydon Helms from third to make it 7-3. TAMUT drew closer for the final time as a two-run home run with two outs pulled the Eagles back to within 7-5.
 
However, LCU got those runs back and then some in the next half-inning to start putting the game away. With the bases loaded and one out, Nicklaus Stein got the scoring started with a base hit to right that scored Alex Ashby. Haydon Helms followed with another shot to right, scoring Nick Brunet. Nicolas Ramos finished out the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly to left which allowed Ju'Juan Franklin to tag up and score from third for a 10-5 Wildcat lead at the end of the sixth inning.
 
LCU scored a run in each of the last three innings to close out the scoring. In the seventh, Nick Brunet's ground ball to shortstop allowed Adrian Aguilar to score to make it 11-5. In the eighth, Dylan David came in from third on a wild pitch. And in the ninth, Alex Ashby closed out the scoring in emphatic fashion, with a lead-off home run for the game's final run.
 
Haydon Helms had a day at the plate, going three-for-four with two RBI and a run scored. Alex Ashby went three-for-five with his sixth home run of the season, a double, a walk, a RBI, stole four bases, and scored four times. Jacob Fowler went two-for-three with a double and a run scored. Ty Morgan was two-for-four with a walk and three RBI. A day after hitting his 11^th home run of the season, Ju'Juan Franklin went two-for-five with his team-leading 12^th long ball of the season, a walk, three RBI, and two runs scored. Nick Brunet went two-for-six with a RBI and two runs scored.
 
Going by committee for the final game of the series, Trip Flotte (3-1) got the start and the win for the Wildcats as he threw the first two innings and gave up one hit and two runs, neither of which was earned, walked two and struck out two. Beau Hebert threw 2.2 innings and gave up four hits and three runs, two earned, walked one with two strikeouts. Branon Pope threw 1.1 innings and gave up just one hit and no runs with one walk and no strikeouts. Dylan Coburn threw the final three innings to pick up his first save of the season, giving up just one hit and one walk with two strikeouts and no runs allowed.
 
The Wildcats (24-13, 17-10 RRAC) now come home for seven of the team's final eight regular season contests, starting on Wednesday with a mid-week, non-conference contest against cross-Parish rival LSU Alexandria. LCU looks to finish off the season win after taking the three-game, in-conference series 2-1 back in February. First pitch of Wednesday's game against the Generals (25-11, 22-5 RRAC) is set for 7:05 P.M. at Billy Allgood Field at Legacy Stadium.