HAMMOND, La. – Julian Service cranked a two-run home run to left field with two outs in the tenth inning Friday as Southeastern Louisiana walked off with a 4-2 Southland Conference win over McNeese State at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Service's first homer as a Lion spurred Southeastern (28-11, 12-4 Southland) into sole possesion of first place in the conference.
The Lions took an early 2-0 lead in the first on
Daniel Midyett's conference-leading seventh home run of the season.
Jacob Seward led off the bottom of the first with a single into left-center. With one out, Midyett blasted a two-run shot to right giving him a Southland-high 34 RBIs on the season.
Southeastern starting pitcher
Tate Scioneaux corralled the Cowboys through five innings, allowing just one hit, but McNeese got to the right-hander for a pair in the sixth to tie the game.
Cowboy center fielder Andrew Guillotte led off the inning with a single to left. With two outs he stole second base and then scored on James Cantu's double to left-center. Cantu scored when designated hitter Billy Sommers followed with a single to center.
The game remained tied until Service's heroics in the tenth. In between, pitching dominated.
Lion reliever
Kade Granier stranded the potential go-ahead run in scoring position twice and Domenick Carlini (1-0) fanned the side in extra innings.
Reliever Cole Prejean (1-2) was equally impressive for McNeese, fanning six of the first seven batters he faced. The right-hander had Seward down in the count, 1-2, when he pulled the ball back of first base for a two-out single in the 10th to keep the inning alive for Service.
A junior from Sarnia, Ontario, Service left little doubt as he crushed Prejean's first offering onto the roof of the Lions' batting cages in left-center.
Kennon Menard (2-for4), Service (2-for-5) and Seward (2-for-5) led the Lions at the plate.
Carlini earned the win, his first at Southeastern. Prejean was saddled with the loss.
The Lions will send junior right-hander
Jake Johnson (6-1, 3.14) to the mound on Saturday at 2 p.m. against McNeese right-hander Ethan Stremmel (3-3, 3.94).
Saturday's game will feature Bingo at the Ballpark. Baseball-themed bingo cards will be given out to all fans and students. Prizes will be awarded to the first 20 fans with bingo. The first participant to produce an "S" on their bingo card will receive $100.
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 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.
General admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-12). Children younger than three are admitted free with a paying adult. Southeastern students are also admitted free with their university ID card.
The box office at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field opens one hour before first pitch. Individual game tickets may also be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets.
Southeastern La. 4, McNeese State 2 (Apr 17, 2015 at Hammond, La.)
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McNeese State....... 000 002 000 0 - 2 6 0 (22-16, 12-7 SLC)
Southeastern La..... 200 000 000 2 - 4 9 1 (28-11, 12-4 SLC)
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Pitchers: McNeese State - Fontenot, Kaleb; Prejean, Cole (8) and Toole, Cameron. Southeastern La. - Scioneaux, Tate; Granier, Kade (8); Carlini, Domenick (10) and Eades, Chris.
Win-Carlini, Domenick (1-0) Loss-Prejean, Cole (1-2) T-2:47 A-1004
HR SLU - Service, Julian (1); Midyett, Daniel (7).
Weather: 80 Mostly Cloudy, N 4 mph
Scioneaux, T faced 1 batter in the 8th.
