HAMMOND, La. – With the 2013 college baseball season just around the corner, Southeastern Louisiana University coach
Jay Artigues has solidified his starting outfield.
Southeastern returns 17 letterwinners off the 2012 squad, a 39-21 team that advanced all the way to the championship game of the Southland Conference Tournament before falling to a UT Arlington team that dropped all three regular-season matchups with the Lions.
Postseason hero
Ladd Rhodes (.250, 22 runs batted in) returns in left field while
Harry Slade (.294, 37 runs batted in, 14 stolen bases), the leading-returning hitter, slides over to right field to make way for newcomer
Corey Bryan in center field.
Bryan, a transfer from Faulkner State, is one of three players on the Lion roster that played at another Division I institution prior to Southeastern, joining Slade and infielder
Gabe Woods. Redshirt outfielder
Josh Watkins was a member of the Auburn football team before transferring to Southeastern last spring.
The junior from Semmes, Ala., saw limited action his freshman season at South Alabama, hitting .263 in 19 at bats. Last season at Faulkner State, Bryan hit .395 with four home runs and 44 RBIs. He was a first team All-State and All-ACCC Southern League selection.
Rhodes' walk-off single against Stephen F. Austin in the 2012 Southland Conference Tournament sent the Lions into the tournament championship matchup against UT Arlington. The play was the tabbed the second-best play of the entire calendar year for all of Southeastern athletics by the department's Southeastern Sports Report television show.
The senior from Biloxi, Miss., started in 57 of the Lions' 60 games last season and finished second on the team with 26 walks while his nine hit-by-pitches was tied for third. A former high school quarterback, he was the starting center fielder during Jones County's run to the 2011 NJCAA Division II National Championship game.
A senior from Baltimore, Md., Slade finished third on the team in hitting, home runs and RBIs last season. As a freshman at UNC-Greensboro he was named to the Southern Conference's All-Freshman team.
Slade joins Rhodes and
Britt Gautreaux as the only returning players to have hit a home run in a Southeastern uniform. Gautreaux will see time both in the outfield as well as first base for the Lions in 2013. The junior from Geismar, La., also provides an experienced, left-handed bat off the bench.
Three freshmen provide outfield depth for Southeastern. Watkins will join Ponchatoula native
Ryan Byers splitting time backing up several positions as both can play in the infield and outfield.
Kyle Cedotal, a graduate of Denham Springs High School, will see duty on both the mound and in the outfield.
Southeastern opens the 2013 season Friday at home against UT-Martin. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and live stats will be available at www.LionSports.net. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), on the internet at www.LionSports.net as well as on the KSLU iPhone and TuneIn Radio apps. A live video stream is also available through LionVision, which is located in the Fan Zone on www.LionSports.net.
|
# |
Player |
Pos |
B/T |
Ht |
Wt |
Cl |
Hometown |
Previous School |
|
1 |
Harry Slade |
OF |
L/L |
5-10 |
165 |
Sr |
Baltimore, Md. |
Northwest-Shoals CC |
|
7 |
Ladd Rhodes |
OF |
L/L |
6-0 |
200 |
Sr |
Biloxi, Miss. |
Jones County JC |
|
13 |
Kyle Cedotal |
OF/P |
L/L |
6-1 |
180 |
Fr |
Denham Springs, La. |
Denham Springs HS |
|
15 |
Corey Bryan |
OF |
R/R |
5-11 |
175 |
Jr |
Semmes, Ala. |
Faulkner State CC |
|
21 |
Britt Gautreaux |
OF/1B |
L/L |
6-0 |
180 |
Jr |
Geismar, La. |
Dutchtown HS |
|
36 |
Josh Watkins |
OF/IF |
L/R |
6-0 |
205 |
Fr |
Montgomery, Ala. |
Auburn |
|
41 |
Ryan Byers |
IF/OF |
R/R |
5-11 |
180 |
Fr |
Ponchatoula, La. |
Ponchatoula HS |
