STERLINGTON, La. – The Louisiana Christian University baseball team was four outs away from advancing to the Red River Athletic Conference Championship Tournament with a routine ground ball in play, but an error kept the inning alive for the (RV) LSU Alexandria Generals, who took advantage of the second chance with two three-run home runs following the miscue to upend the Wildcats, 9-5, in the semifinal round Sunday night at the Sterlington Sports Complex.
 
After LCU was retired in order in the first inning, the Generals took an immediate lead with a solo home run to lead off the bottom half of the inning. But after getting out of a first and second, one out jam following that home run, the game settled into a pitcher's duel with neither team scoring through the fifth inning.
 
In the sixth, the game seemed to turn in one swift moment. Ty Morgan opened the inning by smacking a base hit back up the middle. Dylan David, courtesy running for the catcher Morgan, was sacrificed over to second to set up Alex Ashby. Ashby wasn't interested in just tying the game with a base hit, instead he belted another long ball to dead center that cleared the fence and surpassed the leaping LSUA center fielder's glove for a two-run blast that put the Wildcats in front. Keelyn Johnson and Ju'Juan Franklin both followed that home run with walks, and with two outs, Haydon Helms extended the lead with a base hit down the right field line, scoring Johnson to put LCU up 3-1. LSUA got one of those runs back on a sacrifice fly in the bottom half to make it 3-2 Wildcats after six full innings complete.
 
The General re-tied the score in the seventh with a two-out rally that led to a RBI single to make it 3-3. In the eighth, however, patience at the plate put LCU in position for a win. With one out, Keelyn Johnson was hit by a pitch and both Ju'Juan Franklin and Peyton Lamartiniere drew walks to load the bases. Haydon Helms made it three-straight base on balls as he also watched ball four go by, forcing in pinch runner JT Brice and putting the Wildcats back in front. Nick Brunet followed that with a slow roller towards shortstop, making the only play at first which allowed pinch runner Nicklaus Stein to come home from third and give LCU a 5-3 lead when the frame ended.
 
But one costly mistake gave the Generals a second life in the bottom of the eighth, and LSUA made LCU pay for the miscue. There was a runner on first with two outs when a routine grounder to second was bobbled, allowing the batter to reach safely to extend the inning. The next LSUA batter hit a three-run home run to put LSUA in front at 6-5. Following a double and a walk, another three-run home run extended the Generals lead to 9-5. Adrian Aguilar was hit by a pitch in the top of the ninth with one out to try and start a Wildcat rally, but a liner to second led to him getting doubled off before he could dive back in to end the game.
 
Alex Ashby was the only Wildcat with multiple hits in the contest, going two-for-five at the plate with his 11^th home run of the season and fourth of the weekend in Sterlington. That home run gave him both of his RBI and his lone run scored in the contest. Haydon Helms was one-for-two with two walks and two RBI. Nick Brunet did not register a base hit but did knock in a run. Keelyn Johnson went one-for-two with a walk, a hit by pitch, and a run scored.
 
Colten Newsom (3-3) took the hard-luck loss as he threw an inning and gave up four hits and six runs, none of which were earned, with one walk and two strikeouts. Cortlynn Ramirez had a solid start, throwing the first 6.2 innings and gave up six hits and three runs, all earned, with five walks and two strikeouts. Beau Hebert did not register an out as he gave up a hit and two walks. Dylan Coburn faced two batters and gave up a hit before striking out the next batter to end the inning, not giving up any runs or walks.
 
The Wildcats (32-16) must now win three games over two days to become conference champions and clinch a sure spot in the NAIA National Championship Tournament. That road begins on Monday afternoon with an elimination contest against Houston-Victoria. First pitch of Monday's elimination game against the Jaguars (23-25) is set for 2:00 P.M. with the winner advancing to the Championship Round against LSUA, with would start at 6:00 P.M. Monday evening, at the Sterlington Sports Complex.