Box Score Box Score
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Steven Irvine hit a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning as No. 6-seeded McNeese State shocked No. 3-seeded Southeastern Louisiana, 8-7, in the first game of the 2010 Southland Conference Tournament Wednesday at Whataburger Field.
McNeese State (30-25) advanced to face No. 7-seeded Lamar, a 4-3 winner over second-seeded Northwestern State, on Thursday at 4 p.m. Southeastern (39-18) will face Northwestern State (36-20) in an elimination game at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net. Live video streaming is available, courtesy of SLC Now, at www.LionSports.net and www.Southland.org.
“You've got to tip your hat to McNeese, they did a great job and outplayed us on the mound and at the plate,” Southeastern head coach
Jay Artigues said. “We liked our chances with
Chris Franklin on the mound, but they (McNeese) battled hard and got the big hit they needed and their closer did the job in the ninth.”
Irvine's heroics capped off a wild game that saw McNeese State build a 5-2 lead before Southeastern scored five unanswered runs to take a 7-5 lead after seven innings. The Cowboys scored six runs with two outs, including an RBI single by Bryn Thompson in the eighth-inning that cut the Southeastern lead to 7-6.
Franklin (8-6) got Blake Ellender to ground out to shortstop and fanned Andy Riche' before walking Jace Peterson to keep the Cowboy hopes alive. Irvine, who finished 1-for-4 and scored twice, then responded when he belted a 1-1 pitch over the left-field fence that gave the Cowboys their final lead of the game.
Tyler Davis (4-6), the second of three pitchers used by the Cowboys, pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief before Matt Click pitched the ninth inning to record his eighth save of the year.
Southeastern trailed 1-0 after three innings before taking its first lead in the fourth.
Justin Boudreaux led off the inning with a single before stealing second and tying the game at 1-1 when
Jeff Harkensee singled up the middle. After Harkensee moved to second on a grounder by
Cody Gougler, the Lions took a 2-1 lead when
Joe Sparacino delivered an RBI single through the left side.
Sparacino, who finished 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games, led a three-run rally in the sixth after McNeese scored four runs to take a 5-2 lead. After Boudreaux led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on Gougler's single to left, Sparacino hit a three-run home run that landed just inside the left-field foul pole and tied the game at 5-5.
The Lions loaded the bases in the seventh after
Brock Hebert singled,
Cass Hargis reached on an error and Boudreaux walked. Gougler followed two batters later with a two-run single up the middle that gave Southeastern a 7-5 lead.
Franklin took the loss for the Lions after pitching three innings, scattering three hits and allowing three runs. Efferson scattered seven hits and allowed five runs in five innings before giving way to
Josh Janway in the sixth.
Gougler added two hits and two RBI for the Lions while
Josh Cryer went 2-for-4. Ellender went 2-for-4, including a solo home run on the game's fifth pitch, for the Cowboys while Peterson went 2-for-4.
Jaden Dillon, who was unbeaten in eight decisions for McNeese State, scattered eight hits and allowed seven runs – five of them earned – in 6.1 innings on the mound.
McNeese State....... 100 040 012 - 8 10 1 (30-25)
Southeastern La..... 000 203 200 - 7 10 0 (39-18)
Dillon, Davis (7), Click (9) and Venable. Efferson, Janway (6), Franklin (7) and Cryer. W – Davis (4-6). Sv. – Click (8). L - Franklin (8-6). E – Peterson (10). DP - MCN 4, SLU 1. LOB - MCN 6, SLU 4. 2B - Riche' (12), Granger (9), Fontenot (7). HR – Ellender (8), Irvine (12), Sparacino (8). HBP - Thompson. SH – Ernest (3). SB – Peterson (35), J. Boudreaux (16). T - 2:49. A – 334.
