PINEVILLE – Louisiana Christian University's baseball team opened its 2023 season Friday with a doubleheader sweep of Dillard.

The Wildcats won the pair of seven-inning games by scores of 7-0 and 4-0. The two teams will play another doubleheader starting at noon Saturday, with each game scheduled for seven innings.

Cortlynn Ramirez, the Wildcats' top pitcher in 2022, earned the victory in game one while Braxton Cooksey won his LCU debut in the second game.

The opening game was a close contest until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Wildcat bats sent five runners across the plate. Peyton Lamartiniere's two-RBI single that scored Ju'Juan Franklin and Nicholas Brunet capped the LCU outburst; Lamartiniere went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a double in the opener.

Adrian Aguilar went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs in the game, while Haydon Helms and Nick Moreau also collected two hits.

Ramirez allowed two hits and struck out two batters over three innings. (He qualified for the win as LCU had arranged to use at least three pitchers for a predetermined number of innings, per NCAA and NAIA baseball rules.)

Dylan Beier tossed three hitless innings of relief for the Wildcats. Jayden Drake struck out two Dillard batters in the seventh to complete the combined shutout. Jorge Guerra pitched five innings for Dillard and struck out three batters as the visitors' pitcher of record.

In game two, Franklin accounted for all three of Louisiana Christian's RBIs, driving in two with third-inning single. He later added a RBI sacrifice bunt in the sixth. Drake Angeron opened the scoring for the 'Cats when he came home on a balk in the first inning; Angeron had a single, a double, and a sacrifice bunt in the game.

Cooksey struck out five batters over four innings while scattering two hits and a run for the 'Cats en route to the victory. Colten Newsom struck out three batters over two hitless innings before turning the ball over to Blake Windham, who struck out batters in the seventh to earn the save.

Dillard's Kejuan Burnett struck out seven batters over five innings in the second game, but the 'Cats took advantage of eight walks he issued as the pitcher of record.

The games were the first two in the history of Dillard's baseball program. Ty'Mitchell McCollugh scored the first run in the modern history of Bleu Devils baseball on a wild pitch in the fourth inning of game two.