Troy Jones threw a gem, but his offense didn’t allow it to shine.
The left-hander held Southeastern Community College to just three hits, but was done in by some bad base running and an offense that couldn’t find the holes as Lenoir Community College fell 3-2 on Saturday for its second one-run loss in a row.
“I’m disappointed,” Lancers coach Stony Wine said. “Jones pitched a heck of a ballgame, and we couldn’t help him out because of our mistakes.
“We’re a better team that what we showed out there today.”
D.J. Graham doubled off Jones to start the game. After being sacrificed to third, Graham scored on Zack Brown’s sacrifice fly to right field for the early 1-0 lead.
Jones, a Virginia native, retired the next 12 he faced and 18 of the next 19 overall while waiting on his offense to do something.
It never did.
Rams left-hander Eric DuBose was equally impressive, holding LCC (27-11, 14-7 Division II Region X) to four hits across eight innings. DuBose gave the Lancers plenty of pitches to hit, but when they made contact it was right at a defender.
And when they got on base, they ran themselves out of chances.
Jones Senior product Kyle Smith drew a one-out walk for LCC in the first but was picked off. Robbie Hiser had a sure double over the head of centerfielder Alex Dockery in the second inning but inexplicably stopped running between first and second and was tagged out.
Corey Nygard tried to get things going with a one-out walk in the fourth but consecutive fielder’s choices that got the lead runner erased that threat.
Hiser, who’s RBI double in the fifth gave the Lancers their first run and tied it at 1-all, was picked off at first after a two-out walk in the seventh. Sam Remick singled to begin the home-half of the eighth but was left their after three straight fly-ball outs.
Trent Murray was hit with a two-out pitch by Cody Dix in the ninth, but the same result ensued. The Greene Central product was left there when Tyler Tant flied out to center field to end the game and give Dix his first save.
DuBose (1-2) fanned three and walked three in eight innings for his first win, according to stats at NJCAA.org.
“Their pitcher did good, but we didn’t make the necessary adjustments that we needed to. We just kind of went through the motions at the plate,” said Wine, whose team generated 11 groundball outs and eight in the air. “We just didn’t play with any enthusiasm today.”
DuBose hit Tant with a pitch to begin the Lancers’ half of the fifth, which turned into their first run on Hiser’s double to the gap in left-center. A sacrifice bunt by Remick put Hiser at third, and he scored on Stephen Butt’s sac fly to right to give LCC a 2-1 lead.
Gray Dixon singled off Jones to start the eighth for Southeastern’s third and final hit, and was moved over on a sac bunt by Derrick Bracey. A pair of fielder’s choices to try and get Dixon went for naught, and Dixon wound up scoring as well as A.J. Perkins, who came home on Corbin Bednarczyk’s sacrifice to left.
Jones retired the side in the ninth, but his offense came up short once again as the Rams (21-18, 14-8) won for the 12th straight time and for the 17th time in their last 18 games. LCC, which had its seven-game win streak snapped in a 3-2 loss at Louisburg College on Wednesday, dropped its second in a row.
Jones (5-2) struck out seven and didn’t walk any in a 108-pitch complete-game outing.
The teams will convene at Lancer Field again today for a doubleheader beginning at noon. Saturday’s originally scheduled doubleheader was turned into one nine-inning game due to the rain that fell over night.
Wine hopes the ineffectiveness of his offense will sink in overnight.
“This is embarrassing,” he said. “Southeastern is a good team, but we’re better than that.
“If my guys want to win the (Region X) tournament like they say they do, they’re going to have to put forth more of an effort.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
Southeastern C.C. 100 000 020—3 3 0
Lenoir C.C. 000 020 000—2 4 1
DuBose, Dix (9) and McGee; Jones and Remick. W—DuBose. L—Jones. Sv—Dix.