MIAMI – Coming off a school-record 40-win season, the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team opens its 2011 campaign Friday on the national stage as it faces defending Sun Belt champion Florida International in a three-game series at FIU Baseball Stadium.

First pitch for Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST with Saturday's contest slated for noon CST and Sunday's finale at 6:30 p.m. All three games will be televised live on ESPN3.com with Sunday's finale slated to also be televised on ESPNU.

Southeastern (40-19 in 2010) faces an FIU squad that finished 36-25 in 2010, claimed its first Sun Belt title since 1999 and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2002. The Panthers feature All-American shortstop Garrett Wittels, who has a 56-game hitting streak and is three shy of breaking the NCAA record set by former Oklahoma State All-American Robin Ventura.

“We're very excited to open the season on the national stage against a very good team in FIU,” Artigues said. “Our players are excited about the opportunity to compete on national television and face the best hitter in college baseball.”

Eight position starters, including the top seven hitters, return from a team that led the Southland Conference in on-base percentage (.410), runs scored (458), RBI (418) and hit-by-pitches (117). Junior right-fielder Cody Gougler (.337-4-41) led the Lions at the plate in 2010 with senior left-fielder Jeff Harkensee (.325-6-47) recording a school-record 27 doubles in his inaugural season.

Designated hitter Joe Sparacino (.324-8-35) enters the season on a 12-game hitting streak dating back to last season while junior shortstop Justin Boudreaux (.313-13-66) led the Lions in home runs and the led the Southland Conference in RBI.

Senior catcher Josh Cryer (.312-5-46) led the Southland Conference with 22 hit-by-pitches and is the school's career leader with 63. Senior center-fielder and leadoff hitter Cass Hargis (.303-1-42) enters the season, two runs shy of passing former Lion Ty Summerlin for the all-time lead in runs scored and is 48 hits shy of passing Summerlin (276 from 2006-09) as the Lions' all-time leader in hits.

Sophomore Brock Hebert (.288-2-55) finished second for the Lions in RBI as a true freshman with senior first-baseman Trey Martin (.223-0-22) recording a .457 on-base percentage and 15 stolen bases. Junior college transfer Jonathan Pace joins the starting lineup as the Lions' third baseman, replacing Chris Franklin, while another junior college transfer – Zachary native and former LSU-Eunice catcher Jacob Fisher – will vie for playing time after hitting nine home runs.

“We just try to apply pressure offensively and we're able to do that in a lot of different ways,” Artigues said. “We take a lot of pride in is being a total offense. We're going to need to be able to win games whether the wind is blowing in or blowing out. We don't want to be a one-dimensional offense.

“If we have to hit the ball in the gaps or if we have to hit it out of the park, we have some guys that can do that. But we can also create some offense by getting on-base, stealing a bag, getting the bunt down and putting a lot of pressure on the defense.”

Senior Brandon Efferson (8-4, 4.10 ERA) will earn the start in Friday's opener with right-hander Joseph Koon, a junior college transfer, scheduled to pitch on Saturday. Senior right-hander Tyler Watkins (6-3, 3.80 ERA) will start in Sunday's potential record-breaking contest.

Competing for time out of the bullpen against the Panthers will be Jordan Hymel (7-1, 5.34 ERA), a Freshman All-American in 2010, along with redshirt freshman Jason Greenleaf, senior Jacob Ott (0-1, 5.40 ERA) and Martin. Sophomore Stefan Lopez (2-1, 5.23 ERA) will look to replace Franklin, who saved a school-record 19 games, as the Lions' closer.

After facing FIU, Southeastern will open its home schedule on Tuesday when it faces in-state rival Tulane for a 6 p.m. contest at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. All fans are encouraged to wear gold to the game. Tickets are available by calling the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or on-line at www.LionSports.net.