SHREVEPORT, La.  – The No. 4 Talladega College baseball team was eliminated from the NAIA Baseball Opening Round tonight when it fell 11-5 to No. 1 LSU Shreveport. The Tornadoes finished the season at 40-18 while the Pilots improved to 44-10.

Trailing 6-1 headed into the bottom of the fifth, Talladega was able to push four runs across on three hits to climb back into it. Jose Cruz singled to center with one down and later stole second but an error allowed him to take third. Cruz then scored off Victor Rivera's RBI single to right to make it, 6-2.  An error by the third baseman allowed Darlin Fernandez to reach first and send Rivera to second to keep the inning alive.  With one down and two men on, Miguel Oropeza parked a three-run home run to straightway center to cut the lead to one and have Talladega trail 6-5 before the inning ended.

Both teams went scoreless for the next three innings but in the top of the ninth, the Pilots posted five runs on four hits to push their lead to, 11-5.

Talladega was able to draw a two-out walk but nothing more as a strikeout ended the game.

Starter Juan De Dios took the loss to fall to 2-3 on the season. He allowed two runs on three hits in one inning of work.

Rivera and Nomar Garcia each tallied two hits while combining going 4-for-8 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Oropeza finished his final game of the season going 1-for-4 with three RBIs, a run scored, and a home run.