LAKE CHARLES – Junior Billy Sommer's second inning home run heated up the bats while senior Steven O'Bryant allowed only one run in four innings to lead the Stripes to a 6-1 series clinching victory over the Smurfs in game two of the McNeese Baseball Fall World Series on Thursday at Cowboy Diamond.
 
The intrasquad series will conclude with game three at 6 p.m. on Friday. The series, which is free and open to the public, will culminate the fall practice period for McNeese.
 
With the series win, the Stripes will look for a sweep Friday afternoon. Due to the Stripes clinching the series, the Blue team must now paint themselves up in blue and gold and attend a McNeese basketball game. The date has yet to be decided.
 
"The Pinstripe team came out with a lot of energy tonight and was able to sustain the whole game," said head coach Justin Hill. "They made breaks and was able to open the game up. The blue team was able to give them a run but the Stripes were able to hold them off and stop the rally which was huge."
 
The Stripes recorded seven hits in the game along with a homer and a triple. Sommers completed the game with a home run and two runs scored while junior transfer Lewis Guilbeau impressed with a 3-for-3 outing that included a run scored and an RBI. In total, five different members of the Pinstripes collected hits while four collected RBI's.
 
"The more you see pitching as you go then you are going to get more comfortable in the box and make more offensive plays," said Hill. "When your aces are on the mound the score tends to be low but when you get deeper into your staff then you start to see more pitches. Most of it is a mental game and a team that is mentally tough enough will be able to have a better chance to win a series."
 
O'Bryant picked up the win for the Pinstripes and scattered just two hits over four innings while allowing one run.
 
Freshman Austin Briggs and senior Jacob Williams combined to toss the final two innings and allowed only one hit and no runs.
 
Junior Kaleb Fontenot was charged with the loss for the Smurfs after giving up three runs on five this in four innings of work. Junior Tyler Day and senior Cory LaPeze relieved Fontenot for the final two innings and surrendered one run on two hits.
 
The Stripes opened the scoring with Sommers' solo homer in the second and followed with a RBI single from senior Connor Lloyd in the third inning to go up 2-0.
 
Guilbeau tacked on another run for the Stripes in the top of the fourth following a triple by the freshman and was scored off of a fielder's choice from junior Cameron Toole.
 
The Smurfs opened their account in the bottom of the fourth inning when senior Andrew Guillotte's lead-off triple was followed by a RBI sacrifice fly rom senior James Cantu, cutting the lead 3-1.
 
The Stripes extended their lead in the fifth inning as Sommers scored to gain a three run lead while senior Lucas Quary swiped the plate on a wild pitch to put their team up 5-1.
 
Freshman Bryce Packard scored the last run for the Stripes in the sixth inning as another Smurfs wild pitch allowed Packard to score and up the lead 6-1.