SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Lions tallied ten hits and capitalized on three Bobcat errors to battle back from a two-run deficit and take a 3-2 lead late in the game.  However, Texas State crossed the plate twice in the eighth for a 4-3 win as the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (20-13, 10-8 Southland Conference) fell to the Texas State Bobcats (23-10, 13-5 SLC) in the finale of a three-game set on Saturday.

The Lions entered the weekend series tied with the Bobcats for first place in the SLC.  However, after a pair of 9-3 defeats on Thursday and Friday as well as Saturday's 4-3 loss, the Lions now sit three games behind the Bobcats. 

Texas State struck first and claimed a 2-0 lead in the second on a two-run double from designated hitter Keith Prestridge.  However, Southeastern freshman right hander Josh Janway soon settled in, retiring the next seven consecutive batters.

With Janway keeping the Bobcats, who entered the contest second in the SLC with a .326 team batting average, in check; the Lions began mounting a comeback.

Senior left fielder Brandon Street led off the fourth inning by drawing a walk before advancing to second on a passed ball.  Street took third on a slow grounder off the bat of sophomore catcher Josh Cryer before a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior right fielder Brian McCants made it 2-1 after four.

The Lions rallied to tie things up in the fifth as Southeastern strung together three consecutive two-out hits in the fifth inning.  Freshman shortstop Justin Boudreaux singled to center to start the two-out rally and senior second baseman Ty Summerlin and sophomore center fielder Cass Hargis followed with singles of their own to score Boudreaux and tie things at 2-2 after five.

Janway gave way to senior right hander Ryan Collins with a man on an no outs in the sixth, but Collins kept Texas State off the board in the sixth and seventh to preserve the 2-2 tie.

Southeastern took their first lead of the game in the top of the seventh off of Texas State reliever Lance Loftin.  Boudreaux reached on an error before a single by Summerlin and another Texas State error brought home Southeastern's third run of the ballgame to make it 3-2.

After recording the first out of the eighth, Collins gave way to junior third baseman/closer Chris Franklin.  Franklin entered the week tied for second in the nation with eight saves in nine opportunities and looked to protect a 3-2 lead in his first appearance of the series.

However, Texas State first baseman Paul Goldscmidt tied things up with a solo home run.  Goldschmidt's third homer in as many days tied him for the SLC lead (12) and gave him a league-leading 56 RBI.  The Bobcats followed by drawing a hit-by-pitch and three walks, the final of which came with the bases loaded to bring home the second run of the inning and put the Lions down 4-3.

Southeastern threatened in the ninth as Summerlin lead off by reaching on an error by Goldschmidt and advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hargis.  However, Michael Russo retired the next two batters for his fifth save of the year.

The loss gave the Lions their first three-game losing streak since a four-game skid April 26-May 2, 2008.

Southeastern will now return to Louisiana for a Tuesday night contest at Tulane.  The Lions will be going for a sweep of the three-game season series after picking up wins against the Green Wave on March 17 and 18.

First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans.  Live stats and streaming audio play-by-play will be available online at www.LionSports.net, and the game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM.