Sports

Morton helps Astros beat Orioles 6-1 in home opener

HOUSTON (AP) — Charlie Morton pitched six scoreless innings, Marwin Gonzalez homered and the Houston Astros unveiled their World Series banner before defeating the Baltimore Orioles 6-1 on Monday night in their home opener. Morton (1-0) allowed three hits and struck out six. The right-hander picked up where he left off after getting the final 12 outs in Game 7 against the Dodgers to help secure Houston’s first championship. Brad Peacock pitched a perfect seventh and Will Harris allowed one hit in the eighth before Collin McHugh took over.

Lady Bulldogs take team title in Bulldog Relays

IOTA - Chloe Smith and Rose Regan combined for 54 of Iota’s 130 points last week to help lead the Lady Bulldogs to the team title in the 2018 Iota Bulldog Relays.

Lake Arthur finished a distant second in the team standings with 60 points and Kinder was third with 56.

Elton tallied 45 points to finish seventh in the field of 14; Welsh was 11th (11) and Jennings was 13th (6).

SPORTS BRIEFS

Clipping? LeBron takes on Alabama football over barber show

ENCORE?

HOUSTON (AP) — Not long after the Houston Astros won the World Series, third baseman Alex Bregman got another big reason to smile.

Justin Verlander wasn’t simply a late-season rental. He was under contract with the team for two more seasons. Bregman’s reaction, caught on a teammate’s Instagram Live account, was one of pure joy, filled with shrieks and yelling.

PEYTON THIBODEAUX

Lake Arthur pitcher Peyton Thibodeaux earned a huge win on the mound for the Tigers Tuesday night when his club topped Welsh 4-3. Thibodeaux fired a complete game 7 innings and gave up only 3 runs on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts.

Atlanta, Philadelphia set 25-man rosters

Atlanta and Philadelphia set their 25-man rosters ahead of opening day at SunTrust Park.

The Braves got down to the limit by placing four players on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26. They include third basemam Johan Camargo (right oblique muscle strain), left-handed pitcher Luiz Gohara (left ankle sprain) and right-hander Chase Whitley (right heel infection).

Left-hander Jacob Lindgren, who is recovering from elbow surgery, also went on the DL.

Tigers battle Miss. State in Sec tilt at The Box

Mississippi State Bulldogs (13-13, 1-5 SEC) at #19 LSU Fighting Tigers (16-10, 3-3 SEC)

DATES/TIMES

Thursday, March 29 – 7 p.m. CT

Friday, March 30 – 7 p.m. CT

Saturday, March 31 – 2 p.m. CT

STADIUM

Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field (10,326)

Tickets available at https://bit.ly/2E2InaI

RANKINGS

LSU – No. 19 by Collegiate Baseball; No. 21 by Baseball America

MSU – unranked

RADIO

McNeese drops lightning-plagued contest to South

LAKE CHARLES— After two lightening delays, five lead changes and two ties, South Alabama walked away with a 9-6 softball victory here Wednesday night in a game that lasted four hours and snapped McNeese’s five game winning streak.

McNeese (22-11) led 6-5 after the fifth inning but South Alabama (18-14) scored four runs in the sixth with three of their four runs coming off solo homeruns by Kristian Foster, Lyric Cabral and Haleigh Lowe. The homeruns are the first of the season for all three players.

Dogs rally late for 8-4 win over Church Point

JENNINGS – The Jennings Bulldogs took advantage of two errors and pushed across four runs in the sixth inning to break a 4-4 deadlock and escape with an 8-4 victory over Church Point in a non-district matchup Tuesday evening.

The Bulldogs (11-6, 3-2) entered the top of the sixth with what seemed to be a comfortable 4-2 advantage before Church Point rallied to tie the game without logging a single hit.

A walk to Zack Ray gave the Bears’ their first baserunner of the inning and then a dropped third strike with two outs extended the inning for the visitors.

Three State Titles

Top Left: Hathaway Lil Dribblers Junior Girls 2017-2018 were coached by Clint Broussard (far left) and Cody Guidry (far right). The team included Riley Lejeune, Sienna Guidry, Aida Owen, Carly Dietz, Abby Hill, Kaitlyn Sawyer, Rylie Crader, Ali Crader, Mylie Heinen and Keely Francis.