HAMMOND – After closing out an eight-game homestand with a series win over Southland Conference rival and league leader Texas State, the No. 20-ranked Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team begins a four-game road trip beginning Tuesday when it visits in-state rival Tulane at Turchin Stadium.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.

Southeastern (29-9) has won five of its last seven games including Southland series victories over UT Arlington and Texas State.

The Lions (No. 20 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association; No. 24 USA Today/ESPN Coaches; No. 25 Baseball America) defeated Tulane (23-14) last month in Hammond, 3-2, as Ryan Boudreaux pitched eight solid innings and Chris Franklin pitched the final inning for his sixth save of the year.

Southeastern is led at the plate by right-fielder Cody Gougler with a .344 average followed by Justin Boudreaux (.338-10-45), who leads the team in home runs and RBI. Brock Hebert (.336-2-40) and Jeff Harkensee (.336-4-29) are next in hitting for the Lions while Cass Hargis (.333-0-30) has hit safely in his last 10 games.

As a team, Southeastern is hitting .300 and has a team on-base percentage of .417. Boudreaux, the Southland Conference leader in RBI, leads the Lions with 14 stolen bases and is ranked among the league leaders in five categories.

Junior right-hander Jacob Ott (0-0, 2.25 ERA), a Chalmette native and Holy Cross product, will make his first career start on the mound for Southeastern while Tulane will counter with southpaw Matt Petiton (1-3, 5.17 ERA).

Tulane, which is 21-9 at home this season, took two of three games from UNLV last weekend. The Green Wave are led at the plate by Rob Segedin, who is hitting .422 with eight home runs, 22 doubles and 37 RBI. Blake Crohan (.372-4-24) is next in hitting for Tulane followed by Brandon Boudreaux (.350-2-27).

As a team, Tulane is hitting .308 while the pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.82.

After facing Tulane, Southeastern will resume Southland Conference action beginning Friday when it travels to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a three-game series. First pitch for Friday's opener is at 2 p.m. with the series resuming on Saturday at 2 and concluding Sunday at 1.