STERLINGTON, La. – Time and time again, Louisiana Christian had its back to the wall and they responded every time all the way through the 2024 RRAC Baseball Championship. The Wildcats' resilience paid off with the conference trophy after defeating the top seed and the No. 2 seed two times each.
Playing from the losers bracket, LCU needed wins over second-seeded Texas A&M-Texarkana in back-to-back games. The Wildcats' 6-4 win yesterday forced a second championship game that they won today at Sterlington Sports Complex, 9-7. In both cases, LCU trailed in the late innings.
In today's game, TAMUT took a 7-5 lead with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. In their next turn at the plate, LCU plated four runs of their own, starting with a sacrifice fly from Adrian Aguilar and a run-scoring single from Braden Trull. The final blow was a two-run home run from Tyler McKenna, who was named the tournament MVP.
The Eagles threatened in the bottom of the ninth by loading the bases with two outs, but LCU's Kade Linn notched his third strikeout of the inning for the final out.
Nicholas Brunet drove in three runs for LCU, while McKenna, Trull and Harrison Waxley had two RBI each. TAMUT's Hunter Reid blasted a three-run homer and drove in four runs in the game.
Most Valuable Player - Tyler McKenna, Louisiana Christian
Gold Glove Award - Harrison Waxley, Louisiana Christian
Hustle Award - Hunter Gotreaux, Louisiana Christian
All-Tournament Team
1B | Blaise Foote | LSU Alexandria |
2B | Vantrel Reed | LSU Shreveport |
3B | Hunter Reid | Texas A&M-Texarkana |
SS | Kevin Rase | Southwest |
C | Tyler McKenna | Louisiana Christian |
OF | Kobey Allison | Our Lady of the Lake |
OF | Trevor Burkhart | LSU Shreveport |
OF | Julian Macias | Texas A&M-Texarkana |
DH | Braden Trull | Louisiana Christian |
SP | Gage Mason | Texas A&M-Texarkana |
SP | Draven Zeigler | LSU Shreveport |
RP | Kade Linn | Louisiana Christian |