Lions Use Long Ball to Rally Past Nicholls

Ernest, Freeman go back-to-back to push Southeastern past Colonels

Chris Ernest kept the Lions in the game on the field and at the plate on Friday.

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HAMMOND -Trailing by a run in the bottom of the seventh, the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (29-17, 16-9 Southland Conference) utilized the long ball to rally past Nicholls State (18-26, 8-17 SLC) and take the opener of a three-game series 9-4 on Friday night at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

The Lions jumped out to an early lead with a three-run third inning. Southeastern took advantage of consecutive two-out errors by the Colonel defense to put runners at second and third, and senior second baseman Ty Summerlin delivered with the first of two doubles on the night to score a pair and put the Lions out in front 2-0 after three.

After holding Nicholls scoreless through the first three innings, junior right handed starter Ryan Boudreaux ran in to trouble in the middle innings, allowing a solo homer in the fourth and three more runs in the sixth as Nicholls took a 4-2 lead after five and a half.

However, the Lions, who have rallied to claim 17 come-from-behind wins this year, wasted little time mounting their latest comeback effort.

Senior left fielder Brandon Street got the Lions' long-ball onslaught going with a solo shot to left to make it 4-3 in the sixth.

The Colonels threatened to break the game open in the top of the seventh with runners at the corners and two outs. However, junior third baseman Chris Ernest made a diving stop of a hard grounder and threw to first in time to retire NSU's Zack Tisdale and keep the Lions within one.

After keeping the Lions in the game with his glove, Ernest tied things up with his bat. The Baton Rouge native hammered the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh over the center field wall to tie the ballgame at 4-4 with his first homer of the season.

Junior right fielder Philip Freeman followed with his first career home run to put Southeastern out in front for good. It was the first time this season the Lions had hit three homers in a game, and the first time since 2005 that a pair of Lion batters notched consecutive home runs.

The Lions went on to send nine men to the plate in the seventh inning with three more runs crossing the plate. Summerlin drove in two of those with his second double of the game and 21st of the season.

Southeastern added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI double by freshman pinch-hitter Cody Gougler, and junior right hander Chris Cappo kept the Colonels off the board over the final 2.2 innings to pick up the win.

The Lions and Colonels will continue their three-game series on Saturday in Thibodaux at Ray E. Didier Field. 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.

NOTES

With the win, the Lions stretched their winning streak to six consecutive games, dating back to Friday April 24 at Sam Houston State. Southeastern's longest winning streak of the season was seven games from March 13-March 24.

The victory, combined with losses by Texas A&M Corpus Christi and McNeese State, reduce Southeastern's magic number to clinch a spot in the 2009 Southland Conference Tournament to one. The Lions can clinch their second consecutive SLC Tournament trip with a win at Nicholls State on Saturday.

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