Box Score
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana University's
Ladd Rhodes delivered a game-winning RBI single with the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to propel the Lions to an dramatic 5-4 victory over Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference Tournament on Saturday at Bobcat Ballpark.
The win sent No. 2-seeded Southeastern (39-20) to its first-ever appearance in the Southland Conference Championship Game where it will face fourth-seeded UT Arlington (35-23) for the SLC title at 5:05 p.m. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net. The game can also be seen on ESPN3.com.
Rhodes capped off a 4-for-5 day at the plate as his hit off SFA reliever Justin Choate went over the head of right-fielder Ricardo Sanchez and allowing
Brock Hebert to score the game-winning run.
Southeastern opened the inning when
Ben Hernandez hit a one-out single through the left side and moved to second when Hebert singled to left.
With runners on first and second,
Jonathan Pace then hit a grounder to SFA third basemen Bryce Cummings, whose throw to second appeared to go into right field. Instead, the throw hit Hebert in the batting helmet, ricocheted to SFA shortstop Hunter Dozier and he fired a strike to the plate as Hernandez attempted to score from second.
After
Cody Gougler drew a walk to load the bases, Rhodes delivered his game-winning hit to seal the win over SFA (26-33), in a series where four of the five games were decided by one run.
Stefan Lopez (2-1) earned the victory for Southeastern after tossing two scoreless innings with a strikeout. The junior got out of a jam in the top of the ninth inning when Freddy Villalobos drew a leadoff walked and moved to second when Sanchez's attempted sacrifice bunt popped out of the glove of a diving Lopez, putting two runners on base with no outs.
Cummings moved both runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt before Lopez fanned pinch-hitter Jordan Lenaburg and getting a diving catch from Hernandez in foul territory to retire Zach Benson.
Southeastern took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Hebert hit an RBI single to score
Harry Slade. The Lions took a 2-1 lead in the second after
Brett Hoffman's RBI grounder scored Rhodes.
Hoffman added another RBI in the fourth inning when his grounder scored Gougler to tie the game before
Alex Marse doubled down the left-field line to drive in Rhodes and give Southeastern a 4-3 lead.
SFA got solo home runs from Max Lamantia and Villalobos before a solo home run by Dozier tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning.
Kevin Bishop (0-1) took the loss for SFA after pitching 0.2 innings in relief. Dozier and Villalobos had two hits each for SFA, which collected 10 hits off three Southeastern pitchers – but just one after a one-out single by Loveless in the fifth inning.
Hernandez, Hebert and Marse had two hits each for Southeastern, which finished with 11 hits and improved to 12-6 in one-run games.
Stephen F. Austin... 011 110 000 - 4 10 0 (26-33)
Southeastern La..... 110 200 001 - 5 11 0 (39-20)
Eubanks, Ingvardsen (6), Bishop (8), Choate (9) and Scarafiotti. Cutura, Hills (5), Lopez (8) and Fisher. W- Lopez (2-1). L – Bishop (0-1). DP – SFA 2, SLU 2. LOB – SFA 6, SLU 8. 2B – Marse (3). HR – Dozier (10), Lamantia (4), Villalobos (3). HBP – Hernandez, Hebert, Gougler. SH – Cummings (7), Fisher 2 (9). SB – Moreda (3). CS – Hernandez (3), Hebert (8). T - 3:02. A – n/a.
