AUBURN — On a night overflowing with little battles and even a little audible trash-talking, Evan Bourassa won the biggest one and made the loudest statement with his bat.

Lying low in Lewiston’s order at No. 8, Bourassa slapped Nate Pushard’s outside fastball for a two-run single in the top of the fourth inning Monday night.

It stood up for a 3-2 victory over Edward Little in the rivals’ annual meeting under the lights at Austin Field.

“The first pitch I think I took a strike. I just wanted to see it. Really just trying to get in my zone a little bit,” Bourassa said. “I took a breather after that first pitch, calmed myself down and went the other way with it.”

Hits were at a premium.

Each team ended up with five in a pitchers’ duel between Pushard and Lewiston’s Eddie Emerson. The Devils only delivered one more single after Bourassa’s heroics.

Emerson, a junior left-hander, reached his prescribed pitch count after six innings, handing Lewiston’s fate to sophomore Mike Wong.

Wong plunked Evan Raymond to put the Eddies’ lead runner aboard before striking out Mike Hammond and Pushard, then luring Lew Jensen into a game-ending grounder to shortstop.

“That’s definitely new for me,” Wong said of the closer role. “It’s pretty nerve-wracking. It’s all in the head. Just got to focus on me and Alex (Small, Lewiston’s catcher). I zoned out everything out, the comments and everything.”

Emerson struck out seven and walked five in picking up the victory.

Jensen’s single in the first and a Raymond bounce-out in the second produced EL’s two runs. The Devils (6-2) didn’t allow a hit after the fourth.

It was the third one-run loss of the season for snakebitten EL (1-7) and its second against Lewiston.

“Hitting is infectious one way or the other. If a few guys don’t get on, then it kind of seeps in,” EL coach Scott Annear said. “We’ve got to string more of them together somehow. Jump in front of some pitches or something.”

Pushard fanned six and walked five along the seven-inning route. His tricky pickoff move nabbed three Lewiston runners at first.

He struck out Nick Perreault, who had two prior singles for Lewiston, to freeze runners at second and third in the seventh. Pushard shouted and pumped his fist repeatedly as he raced off the mound.

“He kept us guessing a little bit. That’s why we wanted to move a few runners around and get some runs early,” Lewiston coach Dave Jordan said. “I thought we did a good job of that. And Eddie also did a nice job escaping some jams.”

Perreault singled, stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored on Small’s groundout in the first inning.

EL answered with a two-out walk by Hammond and singles from Pushard and Jensen to tie it.

Brian Crane’s leadoff single set the table for EL’s 2-1 lead after two.

“The first inning I got pretty anxious, not throwing strikes,” Emerson said. “Once I settled down and worked my mental process, I was able to get in a groove.”

Emerson triggered Lewiston’s fourth-inning rally with a leadoff walk.

Brian Wigant then chopped one in front of the plate. Pushard pounced, but his throw to first pulled Crane’s foot off the bag, and both runners were safe.

Tom Hird sacrificed the pair into scoring position for Bourassa.

“We talked about relaxing a little bit, focusing on each pitch, and when push comes to shove I thought we did a good job of that,” Jordan said.

Admission proceeds for the softball-baseball doubleheader generated more than $800 for ovarian cancer research.

Between the 50/50 drawing and matching donations from each school’s athletic department, $300 was raised for the Lewiston fire victims.

“It’s a great atmosphere. Both teams are playing incredibly hard, and you get that playoff feeling before the playoffs,” Annear said. “That’s a really cool thing for any kid to be in.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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