Bears Baseball use offensive explosion to defeat Southwest Mississippi

Tuesday, February 4, 2025: Baseball

Hammond, America

The Baton Rouge Bears faced off against the Southwest Mississippi Bears this evening at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana. The BRCC Bears pulled away late, scoring 8 runs in the final four frames, to secure a 16-9 victory over Southwest Mississippi.

Southwest Mississippi got on the board first with two runs in the first inning. BRCC quickly responded, tying the game at two when Shawn Driggers led off with a walk, and Aidan Machado hit a two-run homer to left field. However, Southwest broke the tie with a run in the bottom of the second inning, making it 3-2.

The BRCC offense exploded in the fourth inning, scoring six runs to take an 8-3 lead. Jacob Covington drew a walk, followed by Jake Brouillette, who hit an infield single. Kenneth Berard then singled to left field, loading the bases. Covington scored on a wild pitch, and Trent Laporte added another run with a single that drove in Brouillette. Conner Kleinpeter followed with a three-run homer to left field. Driggers, who had doubled off the center field wall, scored on a wild pitch to cap off the six-run inning for Baton Rouge.

Southwest Mississippi picked up a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, but they still trailed 8-4. They took advantage of inconsistent pitching from the Bears to plate three runs in the fifth inning, pulling within one at 8-7. BRCC responded with a run when Aidan Machado hit his second homer of the game, this time a solo shot in the sixth inning. Southwest Mississippi tied the game at 9 with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

BRCC retook the lead in the top of the seventh inning, going up 11-9. Kenneth Berard led off with a single, followed by Conner Kleinpeter who also singled. Shawn Driggers then singled to centerfield, driving in Berard and Kleinpeter.

Bears relief pitcher Grayson Davis held Southwest scoreless for two innings. BRCC added two more runs to their lead in the eighth inning. Jake Brouillette hit a double and scored on a wild pitch, while the Bears loaded the bases via walks, allowing Kenneth Berard to score when Shawn Driggers drew another walk. After this, BRCC led Southwest Mississippi 13-9. The Bears capped off their victory with three runs in the top of the ninth inning, bringing the final score to 16-9. Nash Tamplet came in to pitch the ninth inning and successfully sealed the game against a Southwest rally.

Baton Rouge outhit Southwest by a margin of 19 to 7, and both teams committed two errors during the game.

Tyler Ferguson started on the mound for BRCC, pitching 2 innings and allowing 3 runs on 2 hits while walking 4 and striking out 2. Tanner Cranford (2 innings), Klayton Wingfield (1 inning), Grayson Davis (3 innings), and Nash Tamplet (1 inning) provided relief for the Bears, with Grayson Davis earning the victory.

With this win, Baton Rouge improved to 1-5, while Southwest Mississippi fell to 2-2 on the young season. Baton Rouge now leads the all-time series against Southwest Mississippi with 27 wins to 16 losses.

Bear Highlights

Jake Brouillette went 3 for 7 with 3 runs

Kenneth Berard went 3 for 5 with 2 walks

Trent Laporte went 1 for 2 with1  run, 1 RBI and 2 walks.

Jaxon Adams went 1 for 2 with 1 RBI and 1 walk

Conner Kleinpeter went 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 5 RBIs including 1 homer.

Shawn Driggers went 2 for 5 with 2 runs, 3 RBIs and 2 walks

Aidan Machado went 2 for 5 with 2 runs, 3 RBIs and 2 homers.

Kaiden Broussard went 1 for 3 with 1 walk

Layne Swanson went 1 for 2 with 1 run

Chase Kelley went 1 for 5

Jacob Covington went 1 for 5 with 2 runs and 1 walk.

The Bears will travel to Poplarville, Mississippi, this Friday to take on the Pearl River Wildcats in a doubleheader starting at 2 PM.

For more information on the Bears Baseball team follow us on Twitter at (@BRCC_Baseball) and Instagram and Facebook at (BRCCAthletics)