Matt Vines

COUSHATTA – Before this season, Red River baseball had just one playoff win since online LHSAA records began in 2003.

The No. 4 seed Bulldogs won two playoff games to sweep the second-round series against No. 13 Pine Prairie, scoring victories of 3-2 and 6-2.

Red River (24-8) will host No. 5 Doyle, who topped No. 12 Many twice in scores of 9-3 and 8-7.

Red River will play Doyle on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. with an if-necessary game to follow for the right to go to Sulphur for the semifinals.

Red River 3, Pine Prairie 2
Game One appeared to not be Red River’s night as Pine Prairie pitcher Riley Fontenot was throwing a no-hitter through the first five innings and the Bulldogs facing a 2-0 deficit.

But a sixth-inning walk by Ethan Williamson, just Red River’s second base runner of the game, started a three-run inning.

Doubles from Jaxun Moore and Tyler Hughes followed, the latter scoring Red River’s first run to slice the deficit to 2-1.

With two out and runners on the corners, Eli Murphy singled in two runs to give Red River the 3-2 lead. Murphy struck out in his first two at-bats before delivering the go-ahead runs.

Hughes came on in relief to record the final three outs, including one strikeout, to secure the win.
Aston Hester pitched admirably as the starter, surrendering two runs on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

Those two Pine Prairie runs came in the third inning when the Panthers loaded the bases with a walk, single and hit by pitch with just one out.

McCollough doubled in two runs for Pine Prairie’s lone scores of the day.

Red River 6, Pine Prairie 2

Red River’s offense came to life late again in the second game, scoring six runs in the final three innings after four scoreless frames.

But the Bulldogs piled up 10 hits in the process.

Base runners were more plentiful for both teams as each squad committed four errors.

Tyler Hughes went the distance, allowing just two unearned runs on three hits and a walk. Hughes struck out five.

Pine Prairie struck first in the third inning, capitalizing on back-to-back errors and a passed ball to score a run on a McCollough single.

Red River got that run back in the fifth inning on a Hunter Tingle RBI single to tie the game 1-1.

Pine Prairie re-established its lead in the bottom of the fifth by scoring on an error, leading 2-1.

Red River took the lead for good with four runs in the fifth inning.

Jaxun Moore hit an RBI single to tie the game before a Pierce RBI ground out handed Red River a 3-2 lead.

Hughes (2-for-4) doubled in a pair of runs to build a 5-2 edge.

The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the seventh inning with a Murphy RBI single.

Kenneth Lazarus had a team-high three hits with one run scored.