HAMMOND – Southeastern won its fourth straight game Tuesday night, beating Mississippi Valley State by a final count of 15-1. Nine different Lions had hits, while seven pitchers combined to hold the Delta Devils to one run on three hits.

 

The win improves the Lions' record to 4-0 heading into a three-game series at Mississippi State, which starts Friday. The Bulldogs enter with an identical 4-0 record following a 6-5 victory over Alabama-Birmingham Tuesday.

 

With Hammond native Steven Barnes on the hill for Valley, Southeastern got out to a first start. Cody Gougler brought home his team-leading fifth run batted in of the season in the opening inning, as his ground out allowed Philip Freeman to score. Justin Boudreaux followed with a triple, bringing in Jeff Harkensee.

 

Cass Hargis added to the total in the second frame, singling home Brock Hebert, extending the Southeastern lead to 3-0.

 

Then the Lions exploded for five runs in the third. Harkensee led off with a towering homer to right, his second long ball of the year. With the bases loaded four batters later, Hebert doubled down the left field line, bringing in Justin Boudreaux and Gougler. Next up, Trey Martin laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Chad Gough-Fortenberry. Hebert crossed home plate thanks to a wild pitch, which was followed by a Hargis walk, leading to the removal of Barnes. The damage was done, as the Lions' lead was extended to 8-0.

 

Southeastern put together another huge inning in the fifth, as six Lions scored. Hargis tripled to account for a pair of runs. Freeman brought Hargis home with a single. Joe Sparacino replaced Gougler, and delivered a pinch hit home run to right, good for three RBI.

 

The Lions added one more run in the sixth. Freeman's groundout to short allowed Hebert to score his game-high fourth run.

 

Starting pitcher Ryan Boudreaux (1-0) earned the win, allowing two hits and no runs in three innings of work, while striking out a pair of Delta Devils. Tanner Lorenz, Justin Schneider, Joel Sessions, Stefan Lopez, Jordan Hymel and Chris Franklin all saw time on the hill over the course of the final six innings.

 

Barnes (0-1) suffered the loss for Valley, as the Delta Devils dropped to 0-4 on the year.





Miss. Valley State... 000 000 100 - 1 3 1   (0-4)
Southeastern... 215 061 00x - 15 13 1    (4-0)

Barnes, Parker (3), Johnson (5), Leblanc (5), Kaplan (6), Aleman (7), Goodman (8) and Ming, Gibson (7). R. Boudreaux, Lorenz (4), Schneider (5), Sessions (6), Lopez (7), Hymel (8), Franklin (9) and Gough-Fortenberry, Lucas (6). W - R. Boudreaux (1-0). L - Barnes (0-1). E - Ming (1), Hebert (4). DP - SLU 1. LOB - MVSU 8; SLU 9. 2B - Olson (3), Harkensee (2), Hebert (1), Martin (1). 3B - Hargis (1), J. Boudreaux (1). HR - Harkensee (2), Sparacino (1). SH - Martin (4). SF - Hildreth (1). SB - Hargis 2 (2), Hebert (2). T - 2:55. A - 513.

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