SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Lions overcame a two-run deficit early on, but the Bobcats pulled away late as the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (20-11, 10-6 Southland Conference) fell to Texas State (21-10, 11-5 SLC) by a final of 9-3 in the opener of a three-game series on Thursday night.  The loss drops the Lions one game behind the first-place Bobcats in the SLC.

The Bobcats struck first as a series of bloop singles brought home a pair of runs with two outs in the first.  Three consecutive base hits with two outs plated the first two runs of the ballgame as the Lions fell behind 2-0 early on.

However, junior right hander Ryan Boudreaux soon regained his composure and kept Texas State off the board over the next three innings while the Lion offense mounted a comeback.

Southeastern cut the Texas State lead in half in the top of the second inning as sophomore first baseman Joe Sparacino delivered a two-out RBI single to score sophomore catcher Josh Cryer to make it 2-1 after two.

The Lions managed to tie things up in the fourth as freshman designated hitter Cody Gougler started things off with a two-out single to left.  Sparacino followed by reaching on an error and freshman shortstop Justin Boudreaux delivered the Lions' second two-out run of the ballgame with a single to score Gougler and tie the game at 2-2 in the fourth.

However, the Bobcats reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth as four hits, including a double and a two-run homer, led to three Texas State runs and a 5-2 Bobcat lead.

Texas State extended their lead with two more in the sixth and one run each in the seventh and eighth to take a 9-2 advantage.

Southeastern managed one more two-out run in the ninth as senior second baseman Ty Summerlin drove home Justin Boudreaux to make it 9-3.  Unfortunately, that's as close as the Lions would get as Texas State managed to get the final out for the 9-3 win.

The Lions will try to even the series with the Bobcats at one game each, and reclaim a share of first place in the SLC, when they square off against Texas State for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday.

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.