Box Score BATON ROUGE, La. – Leading 2-1 in the 10th inning, Southeastern Louisiana right fielder
Andrew Godbold threw out Bryant's Dan Cellucci at the plate to end the game Saturday at Alex Box Stadium and seal the Lions' first NCAA postseason win since the 1992 season.
Southeastern (38-24) scored the eventual winning run in the top of the 10th on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by
Sam Roberson, but Bryant (42-16) immediately went to work in the bottom of the inning.
Shortstop, and No. 9 hitter, Cellucci led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. Carl Anderson followed with a single up the middle, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Anderson stole second, erasing the force play, but
Mason Klotz buckled down and struck out pinch hitter Tom Gavitt. After intentionally walking right fielder Jourdan Mountford to load the bases, and set up a force play at every base, Klotz got cleanup hitter AJ Zarozny to hit a fly ball to right.
Godbold came charging in, made the catch, and unleashed a shoulder-high strike to
Jameson Fisher just up the third-base line. The throw was in plenty of time to nail Cellucci at the plate, ending the game.
"I think early in the ball game you saw both clubs struggling to try to get some things going," Southeastern head coach
Matt Riser said. "They had a tough loss yesterday, we had a tough loss yesterday. We knew it would be one to keep grinding out.
"Obviously when you get late in the ballgame, we practice what you call a championship inning. In the ninth (inning) we just kept talking about it, one inning at a time. If you win the championship inning, you win the ballgame. You just have to keep grinding it out no matter what happens and obviously you saw. We had guys on first and second with nobody out but couldn't get the bunt down. Then, we execute the hit and run and a big sacrifice fly. Then, we give up the leadoff double. They have guys on second and third with nobody out. It was a big situation, nine times out of ten, you don't come out of it. Our guys have been put in that situation all year long. I don't think we've had a lot of blowouts, most of the games we've played have been tight. They did a great job of handling the moment."
The Lions scored the first run of the game just three batters in.
Jacob Seward singled up the middle and advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw. After
Jameson Fisher was hit by a pitch, Bryant starter Craig Schlitter uncorked a wild pitch to score Seward.
Bryant tied the game in the fifth with a run off Lion starter
Tate Scioneaux.
Klotz (2-0) worked four scoreless innings in relief, stranding the potential winning run in scoring position in both the seventh and ninth innings. He earned the win, Southeastern's first since May 22. 1992 when the Lions shutout Hawaii, 8-0, in the opening game of the Tuscon, Arizona, regional. Bulldog reliever Trevor Lacosse (4-4) was saddled with the loss.
The Lions will face the loser of the Houston (No. 2 seed) / LSU (No. 1 seed) game Sunday at 2 p.m. in an elimination contest on ESPN3.
Southeastern's NCAA Regional games can be heard on KSLU 90.9 FM, the flagship station of the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, as well as Northshore Broadcasting stations Kajun 107.1 FM and The Highway 104.7 FM. Streaming audio is available online while smartphone users can access audio using either the KSLU or TuneIn Radio apps. Fans can also keep up with Southeastern's Regional experience through live statistics or by following SLUathletics on Twitter. Links to audio, stats and video are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern La. 2, Bryant 1 (May 31, 2014 at Baton Rouge, La.)
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Southeastern La...... 100 000 000 1 - 2 12 1 (38-24)
Bryant.................... 000 010 000 0 - 1 10 2 (42-16)
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Pitchers: Southeastern La. - Scioneaux, Tate; Klotz, Mason (7) and Fisher, Jameson. Bryant - Schlitter, Craig; Cohen, Jonathan (8); Lacosse, Trevor (9) and McCarthy, Buck.
Win-Klotz, Mason (2-0) Loss-Lacosse, Trevor (4-4) T-3:06 A-10509
Actual Attendance: 1,908
Scioneaux, T faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Baton Rouge Regional hosted by LSU
FridayGame 1 - #1 LSU 8 - #4 Southeastern Louisiana 4
Game 2 - #2 Houston 3 - #3 Bryant 2 (10 innings)
SaturdayGame 3 – #4 Southeastern Louisiana 2 - #3 Bryant 1 (10 innings)
Game 4 – #1 LSU 5 - #2 Houston 1
SundayGame 5 – #2 Houston (45-16) vs. #4 Southeastern Louisiana (38-24), 2 p.m., ESPN 3
Game 6 – Winner Game 5 vs. LSU (46-14-1), 7 p.m., ESPN3
MondayGame 7 – Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 6, 7 p.m., ESPN3 (if necessary)
Quotes - Head Coach MATT RISEROn the 10th inning…"Obviously, we would have liked to have gotten the bunt down to make it a little bit easier, but like I said, it's a unique bunch of kids that like to do it the tough way. (Brett) Hoffman has been great for us all year long. Obviously, we didn't get the bunt down there, but he had teammates around to pick him up. When we got together, (Daniel) Midyett was there and was confident in it. I just told them to put the ball on the ground and do a good job on the bases. Just keep your head up. We executed the hit and run. The pitcher (Trevor Lacosse) didn't cover first base there. We continued to try to put pressure on the defense by moving guys and putting guys in motion to get those breaks."
On pitcher Tate Scioneaux's performance…"That's why we like our bunch in the tournament. We knew we were going to be better on the mound. We knew we were going to have some guys on that front end as far as rotation wise that allowed us to hold some opponents down. Bryant had been swinging the bat well all year. I think they came into the game with every guy hitting over .300 at the time. Obviously, it wasn't a great performance by Tate. He didn't have his best stuff. He did a good job of continuing to compete. When you've got confident kids that continue to compete, the result is usually a good one. "
RF ANDREW GODBOLDOn his big play in left field in the tenth inning to keep Bryant from tying the game…"I saw the ball go up and I thought 'alright throw him out'. That's it. That's all you have to think about, catch the ball and throw the ball. I thought since it was a little shallow he wasn't going to go, but I probably made the best throw of my life right then."
On Southeastern Louisiana advancing in the regional tournament…"It is a big deal. We know that. We know it's been a while. I think we were one-and-four in regionals until today, but we don't think about that. We feel like we can compete with anybody. It is one pitch at the time and one game at the time. We have to keep winning. Obviously we aren't out. We play tomorrow. We play a very good team in Houston or LSU. We will compete like we always do. We never count ourselves out. No matter what the situation is. It is baseball. You keep playing and keep competing to come out with a W.
1B SAM ROBERSONOn his RBI sac fly to take the lead in the top of the 10th inning…"I was trying to get something in the zone. I got down in the count. He made some really good pitches. He was trying to get me to hit the ball somewhere on the ground for a double play. He was trying to get me out front. I waited back and made a pretty good swing on it."
RHP MASON KLOTZOn relieving Tate Scioneaux in the top of the seventh…"Tate (Scioneaux) gave us a great start. My job was to come in to hold those guys where our team could come out with a W. I kept competing and competing. Our guys came through for me."
On Southeastern competing to stay in the tournament…"Our team takes pride in the way we compete. We always compete from the first inning to the last inning. Within the game, we just try to win each inning as it goes and eliminate. We did a great job of that today. We went through some tough spots, but our guys came through today with big plays like Andrew did in the tenth inning."
