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HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Lions lost a three-run in the bottom of the ninth, but the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (25-17, 14-9 Southland Conference) regrouped with a pair of runs in the tenth to claim a 7-5 win over the Sam Houston State Bobcats (28-15, 14-9 SLC) on Saturday.

The extra-inning win brought the Lions into a tie for second place in the league with the Bearkats and clinched a series win for Southeastern.

Southeastern struck first on Saturday as an RBI double by senior second baseman Ty Summerlin and a run-scoring single by Josh Cryer staked the Lions to a 2-0 lead after the first half inning.

Unfortunately, for the Lions, sophomore right hander Brandon Efferson ran into trouble in the bottom of the first as a two-run homer by Nick Zaleski tied the score at 2-2 after one.

Efferson settled down after that.  The Zachary native allowed just three hits and a hit batsmen from the second through the eighth inning and retired ten consecutive batters at one point.

Meanwhile, the Lion offense went about reclaiming the lead.  Summerlin struck again in the third inning with a solo shot to right field.  The first home run of the season for the Vancleave, Miss. native put Southeastern back out in front 3-2.

With Efferson cruising through most of the game, the Lions expanded their lead in the sixth.  Southeastern loaded the bases with one out before freshman shortstop Justin Boudreaux beat out an RBI infield hit and sophomore center fielder Cass Hargis drove home a run with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 heading into the seventh.

Efferson was brilliant over the first eight innings, shutting out the Bearkats from the second through the eighth and taking a 5-2 lead into the ninth.

Unfortunately for the Lions, the best offensive team in the conference showed why they were so dangerous in the bottom of the ninth.

The Bearkats, who came into Saturday's contest with a league-leading team batting average of .339, started the bottom of the ninth with a double and a base hit to chase Efferson from the game. 

Efferson could not finish his bid for his second complete game of the season, but handed a three-run lead to junior right hander Chris Franklin.

Franklin had converted a school-record 10 saves in 12 chances, however, the Bearkats greeted him with an RBI double and a run-scoring single to tie things up at 5-5.  However, Franklin was able to strand the winning run at first and send the game to extra innings.

Southeastern wasted little time reclaiming the lead once again.  After junior right fielder Philip Freeman lined out to third for the first out of the inning, Boudreaux followed with a solo shot over the left center field fence.  The Dutchtown HS product's third homer of the season chased reliever Dallas Gallant from the ballgame, but the Lions were not done yet.

Bearkat reliever Matt Shelton hit the first batter he faced to put Hargis at first and Summerlin followed with his second RBI double of the afternoon to make it 7-5.

Franklin returned in the bottom of the tenth and, after allowing a one-out double, retired the next two batters to preserve the win.

The Lions will try for their second Southland Conference series sweep of the season when they return to action on Sunday for a 1 p.m. first pitch against the Bearkats.

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.