Box Score HAMMOND, La. – Jameson Fisher, the Southland Conference's leading hitter, stroked a two-out single in the ninth inning to drive in a pair of runs as Southeastern Louisiana rallied Saturday for a walk-off, Southland Conference win over Northwestern State, 9-8, at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Southeastern (33-23, 18-12 Southland) led 6-2 after a five-run third inning, but Northwestern State (31-24, 19-11 Southland) responded with three runs of its own in the fourth.
Down, 6-5, entering the fifth, Demon first baseman Cort Brinson led off the inning with solo home run off the scoreboard in left field to tie the game. It remained knotted at six apiece until the ninth.
The ninth-place hitter in the Northwestern State order, shortstop Joel Atkinson, led off the inning with a single off Lion reliever
Dylan Hills. After Hills retired the leadoff hitter on a pop up, center fielder Bret Underwood pulled a sharp grounder to first base.
Sam Roberson muffed the ball, allowing Underwood to reach and Atkinson to move up to second.
After a wild pitch allowed Atkinson to reach third, first baseman Caleb Dugas hit a sacrifice fly to right, driving in Atkinson, to give the Demons the lead. Cort Brinson and Chase Daughdrill (RBI) followed with singles to plate Underwood for an 8-6 Northwestern State lead.
Demon reliever Cameron Brewer, who earned the save in the series opener, hit
Daniel Midyett with a pitch to open the bottom of the inning, but Roberson grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to erase the runner.
With two outs, Brewer hit
Kennon Menard with a pitch.
Kyle Cedotal followed with a single up the middle, putting the potential tying run on base. Brewer continued to battle control issues, walking pinch hitter
Jesse Buratt and
Jacob Seward back-to-back to force in a run. Following Seward's walk the Lions sent
Ryan Byers in as a pinch runner for Buratt, setting up Fisher's heroics.
Hills (5-3) earned the win in relief, allowing a pair of unearned runs in 2.1 innings of work. The win was the 18th of his career, placing him 11th on Southeastern's all-time wins list. Brewer (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season.
Fisher finished the day 3-for-5 with two RBIs, padding his Southland-leading .395 batting average.
Andrew Godbold,
Brett Hoffman, Menard and Roberson all posted two hits each.
Southeastern earned series victories over all its in-state conference opponents in 2014, duplicating the feat accomplished by the Lion football program in the fall. Baseball swept a three-game series from the University of New Orleans, and took two-of-three from McNeese State, Nicholls State and Northwestern State.
The Lions face Northwestern State in a rematch Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Conway, Arkansas, to open the 2014 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament. All of Southeastern's postseason games can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online and either the KSLU or TuneIn Radio smartphone apps.
Southeastern La. 9, Northwestern State 8 (May 17, 2014 at Hammond, La.)
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Northwestern State... 020 310 002 - 8 14 1 (31-24, 19-11 SLC)
Southeastern La........ 015 000 003 - 9 13 1 (33-23, 18-12 SLC)
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Pitchers: Northwestern State - Tanner, Austin; Smith, Brandon (3); Brewer, Cameron (8) and Webster, C.J.. Southeastern La. - Keller, Kyle; Pickett, Gage (4); Pittari, Matt (5); Hills, Dylan (7) and Fisher, Jameson.
Win-Hills, Dylan (5-3) Loss-Brewer, Cameron (3-1) T-2:54 A-624
HR NWLA - Dugas, Caleb (3).
HR SLU - Roberson, Sam (3).
Weather: 84 Sunny, SSW 10 mph
Pickett, G. faced 1 batter in the 5th.
