Bears fall in ten innings to the South Suburban Bulldogs

Thursday, March 13, 2025: Baseball

Beaumont, TX

This afternoon, the Baton Rouge Bears faced off against the South Suburban Bulldogs at Vincent Beck Stadium on the campus of Lamar University. Despite leading for most of the game, the Bulldogs pulled off an 8-7 victory in the tenth inning.

The Bears were first to score, putting two runs on the board in the second inning. Cooper Martin kicked off the inning with a single to left field, followed by a walk drawn by Aidan Machado. Both advanced when Brayden Bertucci grounded out to the first baseman. Martin scored after tagging up on a sacrifice fly by Conner Kleinpeter, while Machado scored on a single to left field by Hudson Heltz. The Bulldogs then loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning with a single, a walk, and an error, but the Bears managed to escape the inning unscathed with a line out, a strikeout, and a ground out.

The Bears extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning when Aidan Machado walked to lead off and later scored on a double to left field by Hudson Heltz. The Bulldogs finally got onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, narrowing the Bears' lead to 3-2. The Bears responded by scoring another run in the fifth, increasing their lead to 4-2, with Jackson Martin leading off with a walk and scoring on a double by Cooper Martin.

Continuing their offensive surge, the Bears added two more runs to take a 6-2 lead in the sixth inning. Conner Kleinpeter opened the inning with a lead-off walk, scoring on a triple to left field by Jackson Martin. Dillion Bird followed with a triple of his own, driving in Martin.

The Bulldogs clawed back, scoring three runs in the sixth inning to pull within one run at 6-5. The Bears tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth to lead 7-5, with Jackson Martin leading off with a single and scoring on a single to right field by Cooper Martin. The Bulldogs threatened in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and another hit-by-pitch with two outs. D. Holmes delivered a double that tied the game at seven with two runs scored. The Bears managed to get a strikeout to leave two Bulldogs stranded and sent the game into extra innings.

In the top of the tenth inning, the Bears went down in order. In the bottom of the tenth, Bulldogs' player F. Ragdale drew a lead-off walk and advanced to third on an error by the Bears' catcher. The Bears got Ragdale out at home while trying to advance on a fielder's choice. S. Razaei reached on that same fielder's choice and advanced to third on a passed ball. A. Martinez then drew a walk, putting Bulldogs on the corners with one out. C. Senkpeil reached on another fielder's choice, plating Razaei and securing the winning run. The South Suburban Bulldogs walked off with an 8-7 victory.

Tanner Cranford started on the mound for the Bears, pitching three innings while allowing no runs on two hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. Cole Veronie (3.0 innings), Dylan Cedotal (1.0 inning), Briggs Ardoin (1.0 inning), and Joshua Jensen (0.2 innings) provided relief for the Bears, with Jensen being credited with the loss. R. King started for the Bulldogs, pitching 3.2 innings and allowing three runs on three hits while walking four and striking out three.

Baton Rouge outhit South Suburban, 11 to 8, but the Bears committed three errors during the game.

Bears Highlights:

Jackson Martin went 2  for 4 with 3 runs, 1 walk, 1 triple, and 1 double

Dillion Bird went  2 for 3 with 1 run and 1 walk

Cooper Martin went 4 for 4 with 1 run, 3 RBIs, and 1 double

Aidan Machado went 1 for 3 with 2 runs and 2 walks

Conner Kleinpeter had  1 run, 1 RBI, and 1 walk

Hudson Heltz went 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs

With this loss, the Bears fell to 4-23 on the season, while the Bulldogs improved to 8-5. South Suburban leads the all-time series, 5 wins to 3 losses over Baton Rouge.

The Bears will travel to Raymond, Mississippi, tomorrow, Friday, March 14, to take on the Hinds Community College Eagles at Joe G. Moss Field. This game was originally scheduled for Saturday, March 15, but due to expected inclement weather, it was moved to Friday.

For more information on the Bears baseball team, follow us on Twitter at @BRCC_Baseball and on Instagram and Facebook at BRCCAthletics.