The Belles’ World Series run in Louisiana came to a close Monday afternoon after falling to South Carolina 12-9 in an elimination game. The Belles lost their first game, after a first round bye, to Louisiana 11-0 Sunday.

After riding a powerful offense through the Sub-District, District and State Tournaments the offense showed up a little too late in the World Series scoring a total of nine runs in the two games.

Louisiana put the Belles behind early in the first inning scoring three runs in the games opening frame.

For an offense that regularly put up double-digit runs against their opponents, Troy struggled to just get hits against a strong Louisiana team.

Louisiana held the Belles to just three hits on Sunday. Kelsey Gibson, Sydni Garrett and Rose Snyder all got hits for the Belles in their opening game.

The Belles were able to hold Louisiana scoreless in both the second and third innings, before they exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning that ultimately put the game out of reach for the Belles.

After the loss to Louisiana in round two of the World Series, the Belles were forced into the loser’s bracket and played South Carolina with the opportunity to either advance to the next round or go home with a loss.

The bats came out a bit more on Monday afternoon, but it wasn’t enough as the Belles fell to South Carolina 12-9, which effectively knocked the Belles out of the tournament.

The Belles held the lead, although briefly, three times on Monday afternoon having scored the game’s first run in the top half of the first inning.

Molly Kate Sanders led off the inning with a single. After Sanders stole second Sidney Armstrong doubled giving the Belles the early lead.

The lead only lasted until the bottom of the inning when South Carolina battled to score a run evening the game up at one.

After a scoreless second inning the Belles once again took the lead. Armstrong reached base on a single to begin the inning. The Belles received walks by Gibson, Brooke Bennett and by Snyder with the bases loaded to give the Belles their second lead of the game.

The Belles tacked on their second run on a wild pitch that scored Gibson from third base.

Once again South Carolina battled back to tie the game by scoring two runs of their own in the third inning.

After Dani Brown and Kate Warrick led off the fourth inning, Graci Williams drove in Brown on a ground-out to give the Belles their final lead of the game.

South Carolina broke out offensively in both the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings when they put up nine runs giving them a comfortable 12-4 lead heading into the sixth inning.

However, the Belles did not give up without a fight. After scoring three runs in the sixth cut the Belles deficit down to just five runs they entered the seventh inning down by five runs.

After Aubrey Maulden and Garrett both reached base to start the inning, Maulden eventually advanced to third base and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 12-8. The Belles scored their final run on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Bennett.