FINAL from Millington, Tenn.: LSU-Eunice 17, LCC 5

The No. 1-ranked Lenoir Community College baseball team is set to take the field against No. 2 LSU-Eunice in the NJCAA Division 2 World Series in Millington, Tenn. It’s about 20 minutes to game-time; here are the lineups for both teams:

LENOIR COMMUNITY COLLEGE (54-11) visiting team

Kent Burford, 2B

Ryan Norton, RF

Ben Billingsley, SS

Brian Mills, DH

Brandon Rouse, 1B

Todd Seymour, LF

Bud Lanier, CF

Tyler Ham, C

Hunter Chase, 3B

LCC’s starting pitcher is Billy Dudding

LSU-EUNICE (51-12)

Boomer Blanchard, SS

Delta Cleary, CF

Matt Creel, 2B

Kellen Bozeman, 1B

Tyler Slocum, DH

Perry Smith, RF

Brady Borque, 3B

Nate Peterson, C

Chase Blanchard, LF

LSUE’s starting pitcher is RHP Ryan Boudreux

It’s 7:25 and the starting lineups are being introduced. It’s 81 degrees and sunny. Weather is not going to be a problem tonight.

The first pitch, a strike to Burford, is delivered at 7:33 p.m.

Middle of first inning: LCC 2, LSUE coming to bat — Burford and Norton lead off inning with singles, with Burford advancing to third on Norton’s single. After Billingsley pops out for the first out, Mills scores Burford on an infield error. Rouse flies out for the second out and Seymour sends Norton home with an RBI single. Mills and Seymour advance to third and second on a throwing error by the LSUE LF. Lanier Ks to end the inning

End of first inning: LCC 2, LSUE 1 — Blanchard flies out and Cleary hits a home run to deep right field. Creel flies out for the second out and Dudding strikes out Bozeman to end inning

Middle of second inning: LCC 2, LSUE 1 — Chase gets a one-out single, steals second and advances to third on Burford’s groundout to first base. After Norton walks, Billingsley ends the inning by flying out to CF

End of second inning: LSUE 4, LCC 2 — Smith hits a one-out double over Norton’s head and is moved to third on Brady Borque’s single to left field. Peterson hits a sacrifice fly to deep right centerfield to tie the game at 2-2. Borque stole second and scores on a single by Chase Blanchard, who steals second himself. Chase Blanchard is singled home by Boomer Blanchard, who gets to second on the throw to the plate. Cleary grounds out to first for the final out

Middle of third inning: LSUE 4, LCC 2 — Boudreaux gets LCC 1-2-3

End of third inning: LSUE 6, LCC 2 — Bozeman earns a one-out HBP and goes to third on Slocum’s double. Smith’s single sends Bozeman and Slocum home with a 6-2 lead. Dudding (2 1/3 IP, 7 hits, 6 runs, 6 ER, 0 BBs, 1 K, 1 HBP) is taken out of the game for Keith Spinner. Ham catches Smith off first base for the second out and Spinner strikes out Borque for Out 3

Middle of fourth inning: LSUE 6, LCC 2 — Boudreaux gets LCC 1-2-3; he’s retired 7 in a row

End of fourth inning: LSUE 11, LCC 2 — Peterson walks to lead off the inning but is out at second on Chase Blanchard’s fielder’s choice. Chase Blanchard steals second and goes to third on Boomer Blanchard’s flyout to deep centerfield. Spinner walks Cleary and is followed by Creel’s triple to right field that scores Chase Blanchard and Cleary. Bozeman doubles home Creel for a 9-2 lead. Spinner (1 1/3 IP, 2 hits, 4 runs, 4 ER, 2 BBs, 1 K) is replaced by Drew Sowers, who promptly hits Slocum with his first pitch. Smith singles to score Bozeman and Borque is HBP to load the bags. Peterson advances to first on catcher’s interference and that scores Slocum for an 11-2 lead. Finally, Chase Blanchard — the 11th Bengal to hit in the inning — ends the frame by popping up to second base… Whew.

Middle of fifth inning: LSUE 11, LCC 2 — Boudreaux gets LCC 1-2-3 on 6 pitches. He’s retired 10 in a row, including throwing only 22 pitches the past three innings. Wow.

End of fifth inning: LSUE 12, LCC 2 — Boomer Blanchard leads off inning with a HR to left field. Cleary is HBP, Sowers’ third-such victim, but is caught stealing for the first out. Sowers strikes out Creel looking and Bozeman grounds out to third for final out. There is no 10-run rule in this game, since it is a championship game.

Middle of sixth inning: LSUE 12, LCC 3 — Mills gets his first hit of the World Series, a single, to lead off the inning. Taylor Ginn replaces Brandon Rouse and pops up to third base for the first out. Seymour gets his second hit of the game, a single, to advance Mills to third base. A wild pitch to Lanier scores Mills and sends Seymour to second. Lanier grounds out to first to send Seymour to third. Ham grounds out to shortstop to end the inning.

End of sixth inning: LSUE 14, LCC 3 — Slocum leads off inning with a single on the first pitch and scores on a double by Smith — his fourth hit of the game, along with 4 RBIs. Sowers is taken out of the game for Dewitt Pope, who promptly gives up a double to Borque that scores Smith. Peterson mercifully gets the first out by flying out to left field and Pope strikes out Chase Blanchard for Out 2. Boomer Blanchard grounds out to short for the final out of the inning

Middle of seventh inning: LSUE 14, LCC 4 — Burford hits a one-out HR to left field. Norton pops up to the infield for the second out and is followed by Billingsley’s single to left field. Mills ends inning by flying out to left field

End of seventh inning: LSUE 17, LCC 4 — Cleary leads off the inning by reaching first on a Billingsley error and is followed by Creel, who flies out to right field. Bozeman reaches on a dropped pop-up by Ginn at first base. Pope walks Slocum to load the bases. Smith hits a sacrifice fly to right field to score Cleary. Borque singles to score Bozeman and Pope is removed from the mound in place of Barrett Stover. Stover is greeted by a single to right field by Peterson that scores Slocum. The third out is a flyout to centerfield by Chase Blanchard.

Middle of eighth inning: LSUE 17, LCC 5 — Ginn doubles to lead off inning and goes to third on Seymour’s single, his third hit of the game. Ginn scores on a fielder’s choice by Lanier. Pinch-hitters Lance Murray and Shawn Lovette end the inning by popping out to second base

End of eighth inning: LSUE 17, LCC 5 — Stover retires ’em 1-2-3, two by K. RALLY TIME!

FINAL: LSUE 17, LCC 5 — Boudreaux gets ’em 1-2-3 to end the game. He went the distance.

Lancers finish second in the nation. Great season, LCC