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Brandon Efferson

Baseball

Efferson Goes the Distance, Lions Outslug Panthers in 8-6 Win

Sophomore right hander fans nine in 9.0 IP, five run fourth provides winning edge

Brandon Efferson struck out nine batters in his first career complete game
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HAMMOND - Sophomore right hander Brandon Efferson struck out nine batters and recorded his first career complete game and the Lion offense exploded for a five run fourth inning as the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (1-1) rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Eastern Illinois (1-1) 8-6 for its first win of the season on Saturday.

"Brandon did a stellar job," head coach Jay Artigues said.  "He went out there and competed hard.  The game was that fourth inning.  After they had that grand slam, our kids really responded.  After that, Brandon pitched tough the rest of the way.  He really competed and got stronger as the game went on.  Our hitters responded, too.  We gave up that four spot in the top of the fourth and then come back with a five spot ourself in the bottom half just by scrapping and swinging the bat really well.  I was just proud of the way we competed today."

After holding the Panthers scoreless in the top of the first, Southeastern staked Efferson to a 1-0 lead.  Sophomore center fielder Cass Hargis's lead-off walk was followed by a single off the bat of senior shortstop Ty Summerlin.  After a double steal put runners at second and third, an RBI groundout from senior left fielder Brandon Street plated Hargis to put the Lions out in front.

However, Eastern Illinois, the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions, refused to go quietly.  The Panthers evened the score at 1-1 with an RBI single from Richie Derbak in the top of the second.

Southeastern pulled out to a 2-1 lead in the home half of the second thanks to an RBI single from Hargis, but EIU answered once again when Brett Nommensen led off the bottom of the third with a home run down the left field line to knot the score at 2-2.

Then the Panthers jumped ahead with a four-run fourth.  After Efferson retired the first two batters of the frame, the Lions looked to get out of the frame unscathed.  However, after EIU's Ryan Lindquist doubled, Curt Restko reached on an error to put runners at the corners.  The Lions elected to walk Nommenson to face Jordan Tokarz.  However, Tokarz responded with a grand slam over the right center field fence to make it 6-2.

However, the Lion bats came alive in the bottom half to put Southeastern up for good.  The Lions sent ten men to the plate and tallied five runs on four hits, including a two-run bases-loaded double from Hargis, a sacrifice fly from Summerlin, an run scoring singles from Street and freshman second baseman Justin Boudreaux to reclaim a 7-6 lead.

Efferson found his stride in the fifth inning as he shut down the Panther lineup the rest of the way.  The Zachary, La. native recorded seven of his nine punchouts in the final five innings to keep the Lions out in front.

Sophomore first baseman Josh Cryer gave the Lions some insurance and the final 8-6 margin of victory when he launched his first home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh.

"I was real proud of our guys today.  They never gave up and they competed," Artigues said.  "That's the thing about this club, it doesn't matter what the score is.  We have the offensive power to come back and win any ballgame.  That (Eastern Illinois) is a strong, NCAA Regional team we played today.  So that's some good competition for us to come back against."

The Lions will look to try to claim the rubber match of the three-game set when they face off against the Panthers for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.  Junior right hander Ryan Boudreaux, who went 13-1 with a 2.64 ERA at LSU-Eunice last season will look to pick up the win against EIU's Mike Recchia (2008: 0-0, 0.00 ERA).

Live stats and streaming audio for the game will be available at www.LionSports.net and the game will be carried live in Hammond on KSLU 90.9 FM.
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