HAMMOND, La. – Tate Scioneaux fanned a career-high 11 batters en route to tossing the first shutout of his career as Southeastern Louisiana defeated Lamar, 6-0, Friday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field and clinched a spot in the 2015 Southland Conference Tournament.
Southeastern (34-13, 18-4 Southland) will have the opportunity to defend its 2014 tournament title, May 20-23, at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. With the win, the Lions moved 10 games in front of Lamar (19-26, 8-14 Southland).
Up until the fifth inning Scioneaux (7-2) and Lamar starter Chase Angelle (5-5) were locked in a scoreless duel, but
Chris Eades broke open the game with his fourth home run of the season. The three-run blast to left-center field drove in
Kennon Menard and
Julian Service.
Following the homer, Scioneaux took control. The junior right-hander from Reserve, Louisiana, fanned eight of the final 10 batters in the game.
Southeastern added three more runs in the seventh to give Scioneaux some working room.
Brett Hoffman and Menard knocked back-to-back singles to open the frame. Service followed with a double to drive in Hoffman.
Jacob Seward, who earlier in the game extended his hitting streak to 24-consecutive games, drove in a pair with a two-out single.
With the win, Scioneaux now has 21 victories in his career and moves into a tie for sixth place with former Major Leaguer and Australian Olympian Jeff Williams on the Lions' career list. He also sits fifth all-time in strikeouts (238) and innings pitched (292.1).
Menard (2-for-4), Service (2-for-3) and Seward (2-for-4) led Southeastern at the plate.
The Lions will send junior right-hander
Jake Johnson (8-1, 2.94) to the mound Saturday at 2 p.m. in the second game of the series. He matches up against Lamar righty Collin Chapman (0-0, 2.35).
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. 6, Lamar 0 (May 01, 2015 at Hammond, La.)
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Lamar..................... 000 000 000 - 0 4 1 (19-26, 8-14 SLC)
Southeastern La..... 000 030 30X - 6 9 0 (34-13, 18-4 SLC)
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Pitchers: Lamar - Angelle, Chase; Andrews, Galen (7); Hibbs, Will (7); Leggett, Kyle (8) and Provost, Brandon. Southeastern La. - Scioneaux, Tate and Eades, Chris.
Win-Scioneaux, Tate (7-2) Loss-Angelle, Chase (5-5) T-2:12 A-1013
HR SLU - Eades, Chris (4).
Weather: 79 Partly Cloudy, NE 5 mph
