HAMMOND, La. – Within striking distance of first place in the Southland Conference, Southeastern Louisiana travels to conference-leading Sam Houston State for a three-game series.

The first pitch of the series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas. The series continues Saturday, at 4 p.m., and concludes Sunday, at 1 p.m.

With six games remaining before the Southland Conference tournament in San Marcos, Texas, the second-place Lions (33-16, 17-10 Southland) trail No. 29-ranked SHSU (32-15, 20-7 Southland) by three games in the conference standings. A series victory by either team will go a long way toward determining the top seed in the tournament.

The Lions need just one win to clinch a spot in the conference tournament, or a loss by either Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The games can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and live statistics will be available at www.LionSports.net. Fans can also keep up with the game on Twitter by following @SLUathletics.

Southeastern took two of three games from Stephen F. Austin last weekend. The Lions won Friday and Sunday, but dropped the middle game, 5-3 in 10 innings, to the Lumberjacks.

Brock Hebert (.400), Jonathan Pace (.349) and Harry Slade (.296) lead Southeastern in hitting. Cody Gougler leads the team with three home runs and 36 RBIs. Hebert leads the conference in batting average and is fourth nationally with 34 stolen bases. The Lions are hitting .274 as a team and the pitching staff has compiled a 3.37 team ERA.

Anthony Azar (.386), Kevin Miller (.337) and Jake Arrington (.315) lead the Bearkats in hitting. Azar leads the team with 33 RBIs while Arrington has hit a team-best three home runs. SHSU leads the conference with a .294 team batting average and the pitching staff has compiled a 3.46 team ERA.

Last weekend, the Bearkats dropped the final two games of a conference series at Texas-Arlington.

Freshman right-hander Andro Cutura (5-1, 2.75) will start on the mound for Southeastern in the opener. Junior left-hander Jordan Hymel (5-3, 3.09) is slated to start Saturday, in game two of the series, and the Lions will send junior left-hander Buck Bernard (2-0, 2.81) to the mound Sunday in the finale.

Southeastern returns home to wrap up the regular season with a three-game conference series against McNeese State, May 17-19.


Southeastern Louisiana Lions (33-16, 17-10 SLC) at Sam Houston State Bearkats (32-15, 20-7 SLC)

DATES / TIMES
Friday, May 11 – 6:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 12 – 4 p.m. CT
Sunday, May 13 – 1 p.m. CT

STADIUM
Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas

RADIO
• KSLU, 90.9 FM
• Pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to first pitch

INTERNET
www.LionSports.net – live audio and stats

SERIES RECORD
• Sam Houston State leads 28-27 since 1981
• In Hammond, SHSU leads 19-8 since 1981
• In the last meeting, SHSU won 12-0 (May 25, 2011)

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
SFA – Sophomore LHP Caleb Smith (7-3, 2.61) vs.
SLU – Freshman RHP Andro Cutura (5-1, 2.75)

Game 2
SFA – Senior RHP Justin Jackson (7-3, 3.45) vs.
SLU – Junior LHP Jordan Hymel (5-3, 3.09)

Game 3
SFA – TBA (0-0, 0.00) vs.
SLU – Junior LHP Buck Bernard (2-0, 2.81)