HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana maintained its hold on first place in the Southland Conference, taking a second-straight game from Nicholls State with a 7-3 Alumni Day win at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field to close out Super Lion Saturday.
On a day that Southeastern honored its 1975 College World Series team (College Division) and late coach Bob Ricketts, current head coach
Matt Riser picked up career win No. 60 to tie Ricketts for eighth place on the Lions' all-time coaching wins list.
Southeastern (22-7, 9-2 Southland) wins the series and goes for the sweep of Nicholls (13-12-1, 4-7 Southland) Sunday at 1 p.m. It was the seventh-straight win for the Lions, tying a season high, and it allowed Southeastern to expand its conference lead to 1.5 games over Northwestern State.
Jacob Williams got the Lions' offense in gear early, tripling down the right-field line with one out in the first inning.
Daniel Midyett followed with a single up the middle to put Southeastern up, 1-0.
The Colonels responded with three-straight, one-out singles in the top of the second to tie the game, 1-1.
Southeastern scored a pair of runs in the third, and another run in the fifth, without a base hit.
Jacob Seward and Willams drew back-to-back, one-out walks in the third. Midyett grounded the ball to the third, but Kyle Reese's throw to second base was dropped.
With the bases loaded,
Kevin Carr hit a sharp ground ball to short. Joey Morales tossed the ball to second, forcing Midyett, but Eagle Wuestney's relay to first was launched out of play. Seward and Williams both scored on the play.
In the fifth, Williams and Midyett drew back-to-back walks to open the inning. Carr reached on a fielder's choice grounder to third, forcing Midyett at second. Williams later scored on
Ryan Byers' squeeze bunt.
Southeastern tacked on a run in the seventh. Nicholls answered with a run in the eight, but the Lions responded with two more runs their half of the inning. The Colonels completed the scoring with a run in the ninth.
Jake Johnson (5-0) allowed one run in seven innings of work to earn the win. The junior right-hander walked two and struck out nine batters, scattering four hits.
Kade Granier worked the final two innings for Southeastern. Grant Borne (1-4) suffered the loss, surrendering four runs (two earned) in five innings of work.
Every member of the Lions' starting lineup either picked up a hit or drove in a run. Midyett (2-for-3) turned in a multi-hit performance with a single and a double.
The series shifts back to Thibodaux, Louisiana, for the finale.
Southpaw
Kyle Cedotal (3-1, 1.56), a junior from Denham Springs, Louisiana, draws the starting nod for Southeastern in Sunday's 1 p.m. contest against Colonel right-hander Justin Sinibaldi (4-1, 1.42).
The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online and through 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. Links for audio, video and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern La. 7, Nicholls State 3 (Mar 28, 2015 at Hammond, La.)
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Nicholls State........ 010 000 011 - 3 7 2 (13-12-1, 4-7 SLC)
Southeastern La..... 102 010 12X - 7 8 2 (22-7, 9-2 SLC)
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Pitchers: Nicholls State - Borne, Grant; Petty, Robbie (6); Stapler, Cole (8); Thiac, Zach (8); McDonald, Jason (8) and Correa, Christian. Southeastern La. - Johnson, Jake; Granier, Kade (8) and Eades, Chris.
Win-Johnson, Jake (5-0) Loss-Borne, Grant (1-4) T-2:26 A-1387
Weather: 68 Sunny
