By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer
The Baton Rouge Rougarou are back in Texas and back on the winning track after taking an 11-4 win over the Seguin River Monsters Sunday night at Smokey Joe Williams Field. The win ended a five-game losing streak and gave the team a 4-3 lead in the season series with Seguin.
They did it with solid hitting, strong pitching and good defense. Seven players scored runs and seven players got hits.
The Rougarou (1-1) knocked 10 hits off of three Seguin pitchers, including doubles by T.J. Grines and Josh Shelly and a 3-run home run by Derrald Moore Jr., his first of the season. Shelley scored three runs, had two RBIs and walked three times. Moore had four RBIs. Davis Meche had three RBIs. Jason Hawkins went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Will Safford went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Five different pitchers saw action on the mound. Starter Hunter Ponson got the win, giving up one run on five hits and walking one in three innings. Nic Bonzini gave up two runs on two hits, walked two and struck out five in two innings. Hayden Oglesby gave up one run on four hits and struck out one in two innings. Cowan Alfonso pitched one scoreless inning without giving up a hit and Connor Spencer closed, striking out two.
The Rougarou trailed 1-0 going into the third inning when they scored four runs on three hits. With one out, Hawkins and Safford singled. Grines reached on a fielder’s choice that took out Safford, then Shelly walked. Hawkins scored when Little was hit by a pitch with bases loaded. Grines scored when Moore walked. After a pitching change, Meche singled to score Shelly and Little.
After the River Monsters scored two in the bottom of the fourth, the Rougarou added to the lead with two runs in the fifth on a single by Moore and an error by Seguin. They scored two more in the sixth on singles by Hawkins and Safford and Shelly’s double. Then they added three in the top of the ninth thanks to Moore’s home run.
The Rougarou travel to Victoria to take on the Generals Monday night at 7 p.m.