ARLINGTON, Texas – Off to its best start in three seasons, the Southeastern Louisiana baseball team faces UT Arlington, Houston Baptist and Michigan State this weekend at Clay Gould Ballpark in the round-robin UTA Hilton Invitational.

Southeastern (4-1) matches up with host, and former Southland Conference foe, UT Arlington (1-3) at 3 p.m. Friday. The Lions face current conference foe Houston Baptist (3-1) in a non-conference contest Saturday at 11 a.m. Southeastern wraps up the weekend Sunday at 11 a.m. against Michigan State (2-1).

All three games can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online and either the KSLU or TuneIn Radio smartphone apps. Fans can keep up with the tournament through live statistics or by following SLUathletics on Twitter. Streaming video (subscription required) is available for Friday's game against the host Mavericks. Links for audio, video and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

The Lions are coming off a 5-4 loss to Tulane Wednesday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. The Green Wave scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to wipe out Southeastern's four-run rally in the seventh.

Julian Service (.500), Carson Crites (.455), Kevin Carr (.450), Ryan Byers (.389) and Daniel Midyett (.375) lead Southeastern at the plate. Midyett has homered twice and owns a team-high five RBIs. Carr is third nationally with four doubles. Byers has stolen a pair of bases.

The Lions are hitting .305 as a team and have been successful on 4-of-9 stolen base attempts. Southeastern is ninth nationally in hits (53), 10th in runs scored (41), fourth in walks received (31) and fifth in double plays turned (6). The pitching staff has compiled a 3.60 ERA, fanning 38 batters in 45 innings pitched.

Preseason All-Southland Conference selection Tate Scioneaux (0-0, 6.00) draws the Friday afternoon nod for the Lions. The junior right-hander from Reserve, Louisiana, allowed four earned runs on six hits in a six-inning stint against Louisiana Tech on opening night. He draws fellow righty Chad Nack (0-0, 0.00) for the Mavericks.

Saturday the Lions will send junior right-hander Jake Johnson (1-0, 0.00), a transfer from Neosho County (Ks.) C.C, to the mound against HBU southpaw Matthew McCullough (1-0, 0.00). Junior left-hander Kyle Cedotal (1-0, 1.29) draws the starting nod for Southeastern in Sunday's matinee finale against Spartan left-hander Anthony Misiewicz (0-0, 0.00).

UTA dropped a 4-1 decision at Metroplex rival Texas Christian this past Tuesday.

Jerame Littell (.500), R.J. Williams (.417) and Levi Scott (.353) are the Mavericks' top hitters. Travis Sibley is the team leader in home runs (1) and RBIs (5). UTA has yet to steal a base this season.

The Mavericks are hitting .257 as a team and their pitching staff has compiled a 6.09 ERA, fanning 25 batters in 34 innings.

Friday's game is the first matchup between the former conference foes since the championship game of the 2012 Southland Conference Tournament, a game that marks the first of three-straight championship game appearances for the Lions.

HBU is coming off a 5-2 loss to crosstown rival Rice this past Tuesday.

Zach Nehrir (.538), Louie Payetta (.444) and Austin Saenz (.429) lead the Huskies offensively. Samm Wiggins and Carey Jones have each homered. Nehrir and Payetta have both driven in a team-high six runs. Thomas Clay leads the team with three stolen bases.

The Huskies are hitting .340 as a team and have been successful on 4-of-4 stolen base attempts. HBU's pitching staff has compiled a 2.57 ERA, fanning 26 batters in 35 innings.

Michigan State is coming off a 3-2 non-conference win over fellow Big 10 foe Northwestern, a future Lion opponent, out in Surprise, Arizona, this past Sunday.

Cam Gibson (.500), Mark Weist (.455) and Ryan Richardson (.400) are the Spartans' top hitters. Gibson owns Michigan State's only home run thus far. Freshman Brandon Hughes leads the squad with four RBIs. Gibson and Richardson each have a pair of stolen bases.

The Spartans are hitting .250 as a team and have been successful on 5-of-10 stolen base attempts. Michigan State's pitching staff has compiled a 2.28 ERA, fanning 24 batters in 27.2 innings of work.

Following the UTA Hilton Invitational, Southeastern travels to No. 2-ranked LSU for a 6:30 p.m. contest Wednesday that is slated to be broadcast on the SEC Network+.


Southeastern Louisiana Lions (4-1) at UT Arlington Mavericks (1-3), vs. Houston Baptist Huskies (3-1), vs. Michigan State Spartans (2-1) in the UTA Hilton Invitational

DATES / TIMES
Friday, Feb. 20 – 3 p.m. (CT) vs. UT Arlington
Saturday, Feb. 21 – 11 a.m. (CT) vs. Houston Baptist
Sunday, Feb. 22 – 11 a.m. (CT) vs. Michigan State

STADIUM
Clay Gould Ballpark (Arlington, Texas)

RADIO
• KSLU, 90.9 FM
• Pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to first pitch

INTERNET / SMARTPHONE
• www.LionSports.net – live audio and stats
• KSLU iPhone app, TuneIn Radio app

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
SLU – Junior RHP Tate Scioneaux (0-0, 6.00) vs.
UTA – Senior RHP Chad Nack (0-0, 0.00)

Game 2
SLU – Junior RHP Jake Johnson (1-0, 0.00) vs.
HBU – Junior LHP Matthew McCullough (1-0, 0.00)

Game 3
SLU – Junior LHP Kyle Cedotal (1-0, 1.29) vs.
MSU – Junior LHP Anthony Misiewicz (0-0, 0.00)


UTA HILTON INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday (2/20/15)
11 a.m. Michigan State vs. Houston Baptist
3 p.m. Southeastern Louisiana at UT Arlington

Saturday (2/21/15)
11 a.m. Houston Baptist vs. Southeastern Louisiana
3 p.m. Michigan State at UT Arlington

Sunday (2/22/15)
11 a.m. Southeastern Louisiana vs. Michigan State
3 p.m. Houston Baptist at UT Arlington