By Tom Dodge

sportsenews@bellsouth.net

MILLINGTON, Tenn. -

It took longer than they may have wanted, but the Louisiana State University at Eunice Bengals are on the cusp of their second NJCAA Division II national championship.

Heavy rains forced Tuesday’s showdown between No. 2 LSU and No. 1 Lenoir Community College to be continued on Wednesday afternoon.

Holding a 7-3 lead after the overnight delay, the Bengals quickly ended the game with a 13-3, mercy-rule six-inning win.

LSUE advanced to today’s 7:30 p.m. championship game to face either Monroe Community College or a rematch with Lenoir.

The Bengals would only have to win one game to capture their second national title in three seasons.

LSUE had two runners on base in the bottom of the fourth stanza when the game was halted.

Perry Smith blasted a triple to score Kellen Bozeman and Tyler Slocum.

Two batters later, Nate Peterson drilled a home run to push the Bengals ahead 11-3.

LSUE completed the romp in the bottom of the sixth inning when Bozeman belted a shot over the scoreboard in left centerfield and Perry Smith scored on a single by Chase Blanchard.

The beginning of Tuesday’s semifinal seemed to be a forecast of the upcoming weather.

The first pitch was delayed for 55 minutes because of storms in the Memphis area.

When the game was finally started, Lenoir (53-10) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Ben Billingsly and Ryan Norton hit back-to-back singled for Lenoir and the duo both scored on consecutive Bengals errors.

But a double play closed down the rally and seemed to give the Bengals a boost heading into the bottom of the inning.

LSUE exploded for four runs as the Bengals batted through the lineup to retake a 4-2 advantage.

Boomer Blanchard, Delta Cleary and Matt Creel hit three straight singles.

Creel drove in Blanchard, while Cleary scored on an error when Kellen Bozeman’s hit was mishandled.

Creel scored on Tyler Slocum’s single and Bozeman was plated on a sacrifice RBI by Perry Smith.

Lenoir closed the gap to 4-3 in the top of the second when Todd Seymour drew a walk off starter Corey Lopez and scored on a RBI from Hunter Chase.

LSUE responded with two more runs in the bottom of the inning to forge ahead for 6-3 margin.

Boomer Blanchard walked, Delta Cleary singled and both scored on a single by Kellen Bozeman.

The Bengals moved ahead 7-3 in the bottom of the third inning when Chase Blanchard walked and Cleary singled and scored on a single by Boomer Blanchard.

The Bengals opened the tournament with two straight wins over Des Moines Area Community College (7-4) and Elgin Community College (14-12).

The second round win over the Spartans had the Bengal fans remembering LSUE’s 19-11 come-from-behind victory over Meridian in the Region 23 tournament last week.

In the Series, the Bengals were once again down by eight runs, but LSUE exploded for six runs in the fourth inning to cut the Spartan lead to 8-6.

LSUE hit two home runs in the fourth inning; the first a three run blast by catcher Peterson and the second by shortstop Boomer Blanchard, his second in the tournament.

The Bengals scored five runs with two outs in the seventh inning sparked when centerfielder Delta Cleary hit a 2-RBI triple and then scored on an errant throw by second baseman Greg Stolzenburg.

Elgin would retake the lead, but the Bengals continued to claw their way nack.

A sacrifice fly by Brady Bourque tied the game and Chase Blanchard ripped the game-winning triple into left centerfield that scored two runners and completed the miracle comeback.

Bengal closer Tyler Slocum ended any hopes of a comeback that the Spartans had in the bottom of the ninth.

LSUE 7, Des Moines 4

LSUE blasted three home runs in the bottom of the first inning to catapult the Bengals to a 7-4 victory over Des Moines Area CC (48-17)

Ryan Boudreaux, gave a strong performance, going 8 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts and four earned runs, all in the ninth inning.

Boomer Blanchard led off the first inning with a shot over the left field wall as the Bengals bats exploded against DeMoines.

With two outs, Kellen Bozeman took a fastball over almost the identical spot over the fence and after a Tyler

The Bengals opened the tournament with two straight wins over Des Moines Area Community College (7-4) and Elgin Community College (14-12).

The second round win over the Spartans had the Bengal fans remembering LSUE’s 19-11 come-from-behind victory over Meridian in the Region 23 tournament last week.

In the Series, the Bengals were once again down by eight runs, but LSUE exploded for six runs in the fourth inning to cut the Spartan lead to 8-6.

LSUE hit two home runs in the fourth inning; the first a three run blast by catcher Nate Peterson and the second by shortstop Boomer Blanchard, his second in the tournament.

The Bengals scored five runs with two outs in the seventh inning sparked when centerfielder Delta Cleary hit a 2-RBI triple and then scored on an errant throw by second baseman Greg Stolzenburg.

Elgin would retake the lead, but the Bengals continued to claw their way nack.

A sacrifice fly by Brady Bourque tied the game and Chase Blanchard ripped the game-winning triple into left centerfield that scored two runners and completed the miracle comeback.

Bengal closer Tyler Slocum ended any hopes of a comeback that the Spartans had in the bottom of the ninth.

LSUE 7, Des Moines 4

LSUE blasted three home runs in the bottom of the first inning to catapult the Bengals to a 7-4 victory over Des Moines Area CC (48-17)

Ryan Boudreaux, gave a strong performance, going 8 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts and four earned runs, all in the ninth inning.

Boomer Blanchard led off the first inning with a shot over the left field wall as the Bengals bats exploded against DeMoines.

With two outs, Kellen Bozeman took a fastball over almost the identical spot over the fence and after a Tyler Slocum double, Perry Smith crushed the third home run over the left field fence to give the Bengals an early 4-0 lead.

Down 7-0 with one out in the ninth inning, DACC started their rally as the Bears scored four runs in a span of six batters

But Josh Bailey slammed the door with a strikeout to end the game and keep the Bengals in the winner’s bracket.

World Series Results

Saturday, May 24

Game 1

Lenoir Community College; Kinston, N.C. (52-10) def.

Western Oklahoma State College (52-11) 6-2

Game 2

Grand Rapids Community College, Mich. (28-22) def. Monroe Community College, N.Y. (38-14) 5-1

Game 3

Elgin Community College, Ill. (32-14) def. Longview Community College, Mo. (35-26) 7-4

Game 4

Louisiana State University -Eunice; Eunice, La. (49-12) def. Des Moines Area Community College, Iowa (48-17) 7-4

Sunday, May 25

Game 5

Monroe (39-14) def. Western Oklahoma (52-12) 11-2

Game 6

Longview (36-26) def. Des Moines (48-18) 11-9

Game 7

Lenoir (53-10) def. Grand Rapids (28-23) 5-4

Game 8

LSUE (50-12) def. Elgin (32-15) 14-12

Tuesday, May 27

Game 9

Monroe (40-14) def. Elgin (32-16) 10-8

Game 10

Grand Rapids (29-23) def. Longview (36-27) 1-0

Game 12

Monroe. (41-14) def. Grand Rapids. (29-24) 8-4