By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer
Four Baton Rouge pitchers combined to throw a complete game no-hitter Wednesday night as the Rougarou bats came to life for 13 hits in a 12-0 win over the Victoria Generals at Pete Goldsby Field.
Starting pitcher Payton Cooper and relievers Collier Barham, Ethan Brister and Connor Spencer combined to strike out 12 and while keeping the Generals hitless. Cooper, who picked up the win, threw five innings and struck out five.
Meanwhile, the Rougarou offense shook off its doldrums, knocking 13 hits off of four Victoria pitchers. The Rougarou also took advantage of six errors, four walks, four wild pitches and two passed balls to score all 12 runs in the first five frames following a 37-minute rain delay.
“Our pitching has been very good for all seven games and, offensively, we cut down on the strikeouts and moved the baseball. They had some miscues that helped us, but (we helped ourselves) by putting it in play and adding some timely hitting with runners on.”
The Rougarou already had a 3-0 lead going into the fourth inning when it added six runs on four hits and three errors. They added three more in the fifth inning on two hits and one error.
Will Safford was 2-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and four RBIs on the night. Sully Stringer went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and one run scored. Joshua Shelly continued his hitting streak, going 2-for-5 with a double and a triple and he scored a run. T.J. Grines was 2-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored. Trevor Durr was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run. Jackson Walker and Banks Byers both scored a pair of runs; Brady McGee scored one as well.
The Generals did not get a base runner until the fifth inning when they got a few free passes from two walks and a hit batter, but all were left stranded when Cooper struck out Easton Dowell for the third out. The Generals left two runners in the sixth, had bases loaded in the seventh, stranded one in the eighth and two in the ninth.
The Rougarou will face the Generals again Thursday night at 7 p.m.