ITTA BENA, Miss. – Sophomore center fielder Cass Hargis and freshman shortstop Justin Boudreaux each had three hits and the Lions totaled twenty hits as the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (15-7, 4-2 Southland Conference) picked up a 17-7 win over Mississippi Valley State (9-10) on Tuesday.

The Lions struck in their first trip to the plate.  Hargis led off with a double to the gap in right center field.  Senior second baseman Ty Summerlin followed with a line drive off the glove of second baseman Curtis Ford which ended up in no man's land in short center field.  Hargis came around to score while Summerlin legged out a double of his own to make it 1-0 after one.

Southeastern extended its lead in the second as junior third baseman Chris Franklin led off with a base hit and a double by sophomore first baseman Joe Sparacino put runners at second and third with no outs.  Boudreaux cleared the bases with a one-out two-run triple, and Hargis tripled home a run and scored on a throwing error as the Lions went ahead 5-0 after two.

The Lion offense posted another four-run inning in the third.  Nine Southeastern batters came to the plate as four base hits and two walks led to four more Lion runs and a 9-0 lead after three.

With the Southeastern lineup staking him to a big lead, junior lefthander Shawn Herring went to work against MVSU.  The Lion starter kept the Delta Devils off the board in each of the three innings, allowing just three hits and no walks through the first three frames.

The Delta Devils threatened in the third with a one-out double from Hogan Barnes, but Herring recorded the final two outs to strand Barnes at second and keep the shutout bid alive.

The Lions broke the game open in the fourth with their third consecutive four-run inning.  An RBI triple by Franklin and a two-run homer by Boudreaux, his second of the season, were the biggest base hits as Southeastern pulled ahead 13-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

The Delta Devils got on the board in their half of the fourth.  Sean Bard led off with a double to left and advanced to third on a single by Jeff Squier.  A sacrifice fly by Barnes scored Bard and a run-scoring groundout by Quinn Axton made it 13-2 after four.

After a scoreless fifth, the Lions tacked on two more in the sixth to make it 15-2 before Herring handed things over to Southeastern right handed reliever Cole Catalano in the bottom of the sixth. 

A two-run home run by Barnes made it 15-4 after six, and a two-run double from Willie Mays made it 15-6 after seven.  However, the Lions added a run in the eighth and one more in the ninth to reclaim an 11-run lead before allowing one in the bottom of the ninth for the 17-7 final margin.

Herring improved to 1-2 on the year by going 5.0 innings and limiting MVSU to just two runs on five hits while walking none and striking out two.

The Lions will return to action on Wednesday when they conclude their five-game road trip, their longest of the season, at South Alabama.  First pitch is set for 6 p.m.  Live stats and streaming audio play-by-play will be available online at www.LionSports.net, and the game can be heard in Hammond on KSLU 90.9 FM.

NOTES

The Lions recorded five hit batsmen in Tuesday's contest, improving their season total to 50.  Southeastern entered the game fourth among NCAA Division 1 schools with 45 hit batsmen.