Le Mars baseball started the year with an 0-2 record on the road at the state’s tenth-ranked team in Sergeant Bluff-Luton by finals of 7-6 in eight innings in game one and 10-5 in game two.
The night proved tough for Le Mars to get consistent offensive production going. The Bulldogs left a combined 17 runners on base in the doubleheader and that ended up keeping Le Mars from getting over the hump and building a big lead against SB-L. Head Coach Trent Eckstaine says he was pleased with the contact his guys made even if they didn’t always result in hits.
Consistency is the key for the Bulldog baseball team this year. That consistency was lacking for Le Mars on the mound at times as the Bulldogs combined to allow 19 walks in the doubleheader. Of those 19 walks, 11 of them came in to score in some form for Sergeant Bluff-Luton. Coach Eckstaine knows, when you give a team at the quality of Sergeant Bluff-Luton opportunities to score, they will take advantage of them.
The Bulldog baseball team got thrown into the deep end of the pool to start the season. They started with #10 Sergeant Bluff-Luton, they are at the defending MRAC champions in Sioux City East on Thursday, and at a very good Harlan team on Friday. Coach Eckstaine is hoping to see some consistency start to show as the week goes along.
The Bulldogs drop to 0-2 with the loss while Sergeant Bluff-Luton starts on the right foot at 2-0. Tylar Lutgen led the SB-L offensive attack with five RBIs in the doubleheader on a combined 3-7 day at the plate. Evan Jalas and Teagan Kasel were the top contributors for the Bulldogs offensively each driving in two runs in the doubleheader.
Le Mars is at Sioux City East on Thursday while SB-L is at Sioux City West.
