Box Score



HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana clinched the second seed in the Southland Conference Tournament Friday with a 12-2 victory over McNeese State in eight innings.

SLU (35-19, 19-13 Southland) fell behind early, but rallied in the middle innings and put away the Cowboys late.

McNeese State (24-27, 17-15 Southland) scored in the first inning for the second-straight game. With two outs, Renny Weber and Collin Todd singled. Nick Eubanks drew a walk to load the bases and Michael Sullivan singled to right. Weber scored on Sullivan's single, but Todd was thrown out trying to score from second base.

After allowing back-to-back hits to open the second, Lion starter Jordan Hymel (6-3) settled down and shut out the Cowboys for the next six innings. Hymel picked up the win, striking out five in seven innings of work.

Southeastern tied the game with a fourth-inning run. Cowboy starter Blake Ware (7-6) hit Jonathan Pace and walked Cody Gougler after retiring the first two batters. Junior Ladd Rhodes dropped a singled into left, driving in Pace.

The Lions broke the game open with a four-run fifth. Freshman Brett Hoffman led off the inning with a single to right and moved to second on Alex Marse's bunt single. Harry Slade sacrificed both runners into scoring position. Ben Hernandez plated both runners with a safety squeeze. With two outs, Brock Hebert and Jonathan Pace hit back-to-back doubles, Pace driving in Hebert. Gougler followed with a single to plate Pace.

SLU added three runs in the sixth and four more in the eighth for the run-rule victory.

Marse had a career night for the Lions. The junior from Paulina, La., set a career high with three hits, and tied career bests with three runs scored and a pair of runs batted in. He also picked up a pair of outfield assists.

Hernandez drove in a career-high and Hoffman scored a career-best three runs.

Southeastern wraps up the regular season with the series finale. First pitch for Senior Day is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday.

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


Line Score
McNeese State....... 100 000 01 -    2  9  1     (24-27, 17-15 SLC)
Southeastern La..... 000 143 04 - 12 14 0     (35-19, 19-13 SLC)
Ware, Sampere (6), Miller (7), Gibson (8), Erickson (8) and Henry. Hymel, Koon (8) and Roberson. W – Hymel (6-3). L – Ware (7-6). E – Sullivan (3). DP – SLU 1. LOB – McNeese State 8, SLU 8. 2B – Sullivan (8), Henry (4), Klouser (7), Hernandez (6), Hebert (20), Pace (15). 3B – Marse (1). HBP - Weber, Todd, Pace, Lucas. SH – Slade (5), Hernandez (20). SF – Slade (3). T - 2:25. A – 1,113.