The Louisiana Knights 18s posted a 3-1 record in the Auburn Invitational held July 9-11.

The Knights 18s (32-8) opened the tourney July 9 registering a 6-3 victory over the Memphis Tigers behind homers from Chad Gough-Fortenberry, Chad Livingston and Wes Rea. Livingston went 2-3 and Garrett Cannizaro collected two hits in four at bats. James Abraham had a double with a run batted in, while Chase Compton and Bryan Picou collected a hit and scored a run each. Zac Hawkins walked twice and tallied once.

Nathan Fury (6-0), with a 2.31 earned run average, picked up the complete game victory, scattering six hits. He recorded nine strikeouts with three walks. The Knights 18s defeated the Bama Bombers 5-2 last Friday on a homer by Rea, who drove in four runs. Rea also collected a double, while Abraham went 2-2 with a run batted in.

Sean Kennel (5-1) secured the victory going the distance, scattering four hits in his seven innings of work. He struck out five and hit one batter. His ERA stands at 1.56.

The Knights 18s suffered their lone defeat falling to the Memphis Tigers 1-0 in a game played at Auburn University.

Hawkins (2-2), who came on in relief of starter Boomer Scarborough, was saddled with the loss in a game decided by the international tie-breaker rule. Scarborough tossed five scoreless innings, giving up just three hits. The Knights were limited to three hits in the game. Cannizaro went 2-4 and Picou collected a single to account for the hits.

The Knights 18s bounced back Saturday to blank the Jackson Storm 9-0 with six different players driving in runs led by Compton, who went 3-3 with two runs batted in. Livingston aided the attack going 2-4 with two runs batted in and scored twice. Fury drove home two runs, while Cannizaro, Hawkins and Rea produced RBI hits.

Rea (4-0), the Knights’ starter with a stingy 0.68 ERA, along with reliever Jason Greenleaf combined on a two-hit shutout. Rea gave up the hits in four-innings, recording four strikeouts with one walk and hit a batter. Greenleaf spun three innings of hitless relief, posting five strikeouts with one walk.

The Knights are competing this weekend in the Premier World Series in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.