HAMMOND, La. – Winners of eight out of its last nine games, the Southeastern Louisiana baseball team opens a three-game Southland Conference series Friday against Abilene Christian at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Southeastern (13-5, 2-1 Southland) faces the Wildcats (1-11, 1-2 Southland), a founding member of the conference, for the first time in school history. Games are slated 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
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 also keep up with the action through live statistics or by following SLUathletics on Twitter. Streaming video is available on LionVision, Southeastern's subscription-based video stream. Links for audio, video, stats, tickets and promotions are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
Wednesday evening,
Pat Cashman and
Mac Sceroler shut down South Alabama's bats and the Lions picked up all the runs they needed in the second inning for a 4-1 win in Mobile, Alabama.
Heading into the series,
Kevin Carr (.375),
Brett Hoffman (.367),
Daniel Midyett (.350) and
Carson Crites (.315) lead Southeastern at the plate. Midyett's three home runs are a team high.
Ryan Byers owns a team-best 17 RBIs and eight stolen bases.
Julian Service leads the team with 16 runs scored.
The Lions are hitting a Southland-best .302 as a team and have been successful on 30-of-40 stolen base attempts, also tops in the conference. The pitching staff has compiled a 3.75 ERA, fanning 137 batters in 158.1 innings pitched.
Tate Scioneaux (2-1, 5.54), a junior right-hander from Reserve, Louisiana, draws the series opening nod for the Lions. He matches up with fellow righty Garrett deMeyere (1-1, 1.29) for the Wildcats.
Saturday the Lions will send junior right-hander
Jake Johnson (3-0, 0.93) to the mound against ACU left-hander Aaron Mason (0-2, 8.18).
Southpaw
Kyle Cedotal (1-1, 1.42), a junior from Denham Springs, Louisiana, draws the starting nod for Southeastern in the series finale against Wildcat right-hander Thomas Altimont (0-3, 5.14).
ACU, which has dropped four straight since winning its conference opener against Nicholls State, is coming off a pair of midweek losses to UT Arlington.
Alex Copeland (.368) and Brayden Gomez (.273) lead the Wildcats at the plate. Tyler Eager owns a team-best seven RBIs and Aaron Draper leads the team with 10 runs scored. ACU is hitting .204 as a team and has been successful on 3-of-8 stolen base attempts. The pitching staff has compiled a 3.92 ERA, fanning 96 batters in 110.1 innings of work.
The series opener is a $5 Friday contest. All general admission tickets for Friday's game are $5. Along with the reduced ticket price, a concession stand combo special of fish, chips and a drink is also available for $5.
Saturday's game includes baseball-themed bingo. Prizes will be given to the first 20 players to bingo and the first player to make an "S" on their bingo card will receive $100.
Sunday is Academy Family Day and Lion Baseball's annual Take a Kid to the Game Day. All children in attendance will be welcome to stand on the field for the national anthem and high-five the players as they exit the field. Kids will also have the chance to run the bases after the game and get schedule posters signed. A bounce house inflatable will be set up outside of left field for all of the smaller Southeastern fans along with family-friendly promotions going on during the game.
General admission tickets for Saturday and Sunday's games are $8 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-12). Children under the age of three are admitted free with a paying adult. Southeastern students are also admitted free with their university ID card.
Individual game tickets may be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets or through the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office, located in Room 107 of the Dugas Center for Southeastern Athletics. For more information, contact the ticket office at (985) 549-5466 or 1-866-LION-TIX. Ticket office hours are 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Fridays.
Following the weekend series, Southeastern travels to Tulane for a 6:30 p.m. contest Tuesday in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Abilene Christian Wildcats (1-11) at Southeastern Louisiana Lions (13-5)DATES / TIMESFriday, March 13 – 6 p.m. (CT)
Saturday, March 14 – 2 p.m. (CT)
Sunday, March 15 – 1 p.m. (CT)
STADIUMPat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field (Hammond, Louisiana)
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 MATCHUPSGame 1ACU – Junior RHP Garrett deMeyere (1-1, 1.29) vs.
SLU – Junior RHP
Tate Scioneaux (2-1, 5.54)
Game 2ACU – Junior LHP Aaron Mason (0-2, 8.18) vs.
SLU – Junior RHP
Jake Johnson (3-0, 0.93)
Game 3ACU – Senior RHP Thomas Altimont (0-3, 5.14) vs.
SLU – Junior LHP
Kyle Cedotal (1-1, 1.42)
