Box Score Box Score
MOBILE, Ala. – Senior right-hander
Brandon Efferson pitched seven solid innings, scattering seven hits and striking out four while
Jeff Harkensee broke up a scoreless game with a fourth-inning solo home run as Southeastern Louisiana defeated SEC opponent Alabama, 6-2, in the first game of the South Alabama Classic on Friday at Stanky Field.
Southeastern (4-1), which defeated the No. 29-ranked Crimson Tide (4-1) for the first time in 11 tries, will return to action on Saturday when it faces Conference USA opponent UCF in a 4:30 p.m. contest. Southeastern will send right-hander
Joseph Koon (0-1, 19.29 ERA) to the mound with UCF slated to start right-hander Ray Hanson (0-0, 7.71 ERA). Live statistics for the game will be available at www.LionSports.net.
Jonathan Pace went 3-for-5 for Southeastern, which collected 15 hits off three Alabama pitchers. Seven players in the starting lineup recorded at least two hits for Southeastern with Harkensee and
Cass Hargis driving in two runs each.
Southeastern took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning when Harkensee, who went 2-for-3, led off the inning with a home run to right field off Alabama starter Adam Morgan (1-1). One-out singles by
Josh Cryer,
Jacob Fisher and
Brock Hebert eventually loaded the bases for Hargis, who hit a two-out double to center-field.
Cryer and Fisher, who each finished 2-for-4 at the plate, hit back-to-back doubles off Tide reliever Charley Sullivan in the fifth inning that gave Southeastern a 5-0 lead.
That was enough for Efferson (2-0), who held Alabama scoreless until Jon Kelton's RBI grounder in the sixth inning and David Kindred's RBI double in the seventh. The senior was aided by a Southeastern defense that turned a pair of double plays and threw out Josh Sanders at the plate after trying to score on Tyler Dugas' third-inning double to right.
Southeastern took a 6-1 lead in the sixth after capitalizing on a two-out Alabama error. Pace hit a one-out single through the right side before
Justin Boudreaux flied out to center for the second out. Sullivan's pickoff throw at first got past Josh Rosecrans, which allowed Pace to advance to second and score on Harkensee's RBI single to left.
Redshirt freshman
Jason Greenleaf pitched the final two innings for Southeastern, holding the Crimson Tide hitless while fanning two batters.
Dugas, a former Teurlings Catholic product, went 2-for-4 with a double and triple to lead Alabama while Kindred also finished 2-for-4. Morgan took the loss for Alabama after scattering eight hits and allowing three runs in 3.2 innings.
Alabama............. 000 001 100 - 2 7 1 (4-1)
Southeastern La..... 000 321 00x - 6 15 1 (4-1)
Morgan, Sullivan (4), Smart (7) and Bennett. Efferson, Greenleaf (8) and Cryer. W – Efferson (2-0). L - Morgan(1-1). E – Sullivan (1), Boudreaux (3). DP – Alabama 2, SLU 2. LOB – Alabama 6, SLU 9. 2B – Dugas (1), Smith (1), Kindred (3), Hargis 2 (2), Boudreaux (3), Cryer (1), Fisher (1). 3B – Dugas (1). HR – Harkensee (3). T - 2:28. A - n/a.
