The Baton Rouge Rougarou rallied but came up short in a 4-3 loss to the San Antonio River Monsters at Pete Goldsby Field Wednesday night. It was the final home game of the regular season for the Rougarou (19-21 overall, 9-9 in the second half), who still have fingers and paws crossed for a spot in next week’s Texas Collegiate League playoffs.
The Rougarou trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the eighth but scored one run to cut the River Monsters’ lead in half. Trip Dobson reached on a fielder’s choice, went to second on a balk, took third on a wild pitch and scored on another balk.
In the bottom of the ninth, Nicholas Schwing walked and went to second on a wild pitch, then Bryson Jones was sent in as a pinch runner. Dathan Cummings then walked. After a San Antonio pitching change, Taylor Walters sacrificed to advance the runners to second and third. With two out, Dobson hit a grounder up the middle to center field. Jones scored to make it 4-3, but Cummings was easily thrown out at the plate to end the game.
The Rougarou finished with five hits to match the River Monsters. Jacob Keys had two of those. Michael Sutton, Tyler Bickett and Colt Lejeune handled the pitching for Baton Rouge, allowing two earned runs, walking six and striking out six.
"This one stings a little bit," Rougarou coach Mike Forbes said. "We didn't get it done today. We know we're better than that. But they played clean and we didn't. We've got to clean up a few things. We hurt ourselves for sure."
The Rougarou will head to San Antonio to face the River Monsters on Thursday and Friday. They will close out the regular season at Brazos Valley on Saturday and Sunday.
By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer