ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana Christian University's baseball team split a Saturday doubleheader with Our Lady of the Lake in a battle of two of the top teams in the Red River Athletic Conference.
 
Played at the baseball stadium on the campus of Holy Savior Menard Central High School in Alexandria, the visiting Saints won the opening contest 3-0 before the Wildcats roared back with a 7-1 triumph in the late game.
 
The two teams will conclude their series Sunday, March 19, back at Billy Allgood Field on the LCU campus. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
 
GAME ONE: OLLU 3, 'Cats 0
The Saints claimed four of the game's seven hits as they outlasted the Wildcats (18-7, 11-3 RRAC) in a seven-inning display of pitching in defense.
 
LCU's Braxton Cooksey gave up only three hits over six innings of work. OLLU managed only one run and no hits off Cooksey through the game's first four innings.
 
Joshua Mendez pitched a complete game for the Saints (18-12, 10-14 RRAC).
 
Drake Angeron, Nicholas Brunet, and Nick Moreau knocked base hits for the Wildcats.
 
GAME TWO: 'Cats 7, OLLU 1
After ceding the game's first run to the Saints, LCU scored three runs apiece in the second and third innings, which was more than enough run support for starting pitcher Beau Hebert.
 
Hebert struck out nine batters over eight innings to pick up the victory on the mound, improving his season record to an impressive 7-0. He scattered five hits and issued only one walk.
 
Ju'Juan Franklin's second home run of the season tied the game in the second inning and ignited a three-run frame for the 'Cats. Franklin added a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning that scored Nick Lorio.
 
LCU catcher Noah Gaspard also collected two RBIs for the Wildcats, as he knocked RBI singles in the second and third innings. Peyton Lamartiniere went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored.
 
Meanwhile, Hebert got more unhittable as the game moved along. He retired 15 out of 16 batters he faced between the fourth and eighth innings, with the lone baserunner for the Saints during that stretch reaching on an error.
 
– LCU –