The Baton Rouge Rougarou ended the first half of the Texas Collegiate League season Sunday night with their second straight loss to the Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators, 8-5.
Sunday's loss was not as dramatic as Saturday's ninth-inning heart-breaker. The Gators didn't wait until the final frame, putting up four runs in the third inning -- two on Bankston Lembcke's home run -- three in the sixth and one in the ninth.
The loss puts the Rougarou at 10-12 in the first half. The Gators are 12-11.
Baton Rouge got seven hits off of five Lake Charles pitchers, but managed only single runs in the second, third and ninth innings and scored two in the eighth. They never led after the second.
Dylan Champagne drove in two of those runs going 3-for-4 on the night. Jake McCann also had two RBIs and Micah Landry had one.
The Rougarou's ptchers gave up eight hits, walked only two, hit only one and struck out 10.
The Rougarou will start the second half of the season Tuesday night at home against the Acadiana Cane Cutters to start a three-game series.
Rougarou coach Mike Forbes said he believes his team has the capability to make a strong second half run.
"We, by far, didn't play the type of baseball that we feel our players are capable of playing and we are a few games out of making the playoffs," Forbes said. "We have some good players in this locker room that have to figure out this grind. Your body may not be feeling great but you still have to show up and you still have to win. In the second half, we have the ability to get hot and win. We've been on the short end of the stick a few games but we've played better baseball."
By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer