Crowder sweeps pair in first day of South Central District Tournament

May 21—NEW ORLEANS — One win is all that separates the Crowder College baseball team from a return trip to Grand Junction, Colorado.

The Roughriders went 2-0 in the first day of the NJCAA Division I South Central District Tournament on Friday with wins of 6-4 over Eastern Oklahoma State College and 5-3 over Delgado Community College at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.

Fifth-ranked Crowder (52-10), looking to advance to the World Series in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history, needs just one more victory over Delgado on Saturday or Sunday to claim the district championship.

The Dolphins advanced to the second day of the tournament by beating Eastern 4-3 for a 1-1 split in day one of the double-elimination event.

Crowder and Delgado will meet again on Saturday at 4 p.m. A win for the Dolphins would force a rubber game on Sunday at 1 p.m.

CROWDER 6, EASTERN 4

Crowder pulled away from a 4-4 tie by scoring two unanswered runs — one in the fifth and another in the ninth — to claim the win in the tournament opener.

The Roughriders recorded nine hits in the game and were paced by Houston King and Josh Patrick, who both logged a pair of hits. King and Patrick tallied one double apiece while Gavin Glasgow had a home run and drove in a pair of runs. Peyton Holt accounted for a team-high three RBI.

Region 16 Player of the Year and LSU commit Jacob Misiorowski started for Crowder and limited Eastern to four runs (two earned) and eight hits while striking out seven batters in five innings of work. He was credited with the win.

Jake Wilson tossed three innings of relief for the Roughriders and allowed no runs and two hits. Jace Presley came on in the ninth and picked up the save after retiring three of the first four batters he faced, including two by strikeout.

Crowder jumped out to a 4-0 lead after putting together a pair of two-run showings in the first and third innings. Eastern posted four runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game.

Parker Rowland tallied a double and a single while driving in a pair of runs for Eastern. Isaac Webb finished 3 for 5 and crossed home plate once.

Nate Ackenhausen, also an LSU commit, started for Eastern and surrendered five earned runs and seven hits while fanning six in seven innings of work. Reliever Valek Cisneros allowed one earned run on two hits in two innings.

CROWDER 5, DELGADO 3

A three-run showing in the bottom of the eighth lifted Crowder to the win in a back-and-forth nightcap contest against tournament-host Delgado.

A two-run double by Landrey Wilkerson opened the eighth-inning surge and gave Crowder a 4-3 lead before an RBI single by Clayton Gray made it a 5-3 ballgame with one inning to play.

Crowder then retired the side in the top of the ninth to bring the game to a close.

The game featured four lead changes, including two in the final two innings.

Crowder benefitted from a stellar start by righty Cody Adcock, who limited Delgado to one earned run while striking out eight in seven innings of work.

Delgado took a 1-0 lead in the first before Crowder drew even in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double belted to left-center by Wilkerson. The Roughriders took their first lead in the same frame when a wild pitch went out of play and allowed Wilkerson to score on a free pass from third for a 2-1 advantage.

Wilkerson finished with a pair of doubles and drove in three runs.

The Dolphins got to reliever Gage Singer and the Crowder defense to reclaim the lead in the top of the eighth. After placing runners on third and second with one out, Jacob Singletary drove a liner to left-center field for a two-run double that put Delgado up 3-2.

That set up Wilkerson's late-inning heroics when he sent a hard-hit liner down the line in left field to put the Roughriders up for good.