NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana baseball team clinched its first ever Southland Conference regular season championship with a 5-0 win over the University of New Orleans Thursday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
Junior right-hander
Tate Scioneaux (9-2) tossed his third-straight complete game shutout as Southeastern (39-15, 23-5 Southland) downed UNO (14-38, 3-25 Southland), taking the first game in the Pontchartrain Bowl series.
"The biggest thing with this crew, people talked about their inexperience," head coach
Matt Riser said. "We only had four seniors and a lot of freshmen coming in. It's not about their age. It's about their maturity and how they handle themselves as young men. They've done a fantastic job of that to this point, but the neatest part is we're not done yet.
"This is just goal one. Goal one was to win the regular-season title and now we can set our sights on goal two. We've got five of them to accomplish. It's a great feeling knowing you set out to reach a feat and accomplished that, but now it just makes us that much hungrier to go get that second title at the conference tournament."
The Lions scored all the runs they would need in the third inning, taking advantage of a pair of UNO miscues.
Julian Service led off the inning by roping a single through the left side and then stealing second base. He scored from second when Privateer shortstop Sam Carriere's throw to first on a
Jacob Seward grounder kicked away.
Seward later stole second and advanced to third when the catcher's throw sailed into center field. He scored on an attempted steal of home when the catcher left his position before the pitch arrived at the plate.
The Lions added a run in the fifth.
Daniel Midyett drove in Service with a sacrifice fly.
Kevin Carr put Southeastern up, 4-0, with a solo home run in the eighth. The one-out shot to left-center bounced off the top of the scoreboard.
Pinch runner
Jacob Williams scored the Lions' final run in the ninth on a wild pitch.
Scioneaux earned the win, extending his scoreless streak to 29.2 consecutive innings. The Reserve, Louisiana, native scattered seven hits and struck out six en route to becoming Southeastern's all-time leader in innings pitched (310.1).
He is fifth in career wins (23) and strikeouts (253).
Service (3-for-4) led the Lions at the plate, scoring a pair of runs.
The series heads to Hammond, Louisiana, for the second game. Friday's 6 p.m. game at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field against the Privateers is a $5 Friday contest. All adult general admission tickets are only $5. Along with the reduced ticket price, the concession stand will offer a combo special for $5.
It is also Southeastern's Senior Day. Senior players
Kevin Carr,
Brett Hoffman,
Kyle Keller and
Jacob Williams, as well as equipment manager Zack Shickel, will be honored prior to Friday's game.
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.
Children younger than three are admitted free with a paying adult to any regular-season game at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. Southeastern students will also be admitted free to Friday's contest with their university ID card.
The Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office is 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.
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. 5, New Orleans 0 (May 14, 2015 at New Orleans, La.)
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Southeastern La..... 002 010 011 - 5 8 2 (39-15, 23-5)
New Orleans.......... 000 000 000 - 0 7 3 (14-38, 3-25)
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Pitchers: Southeastern La. - Scioneaux, Tate and Eades, Chris. New Orleans - Priddle, Jordan; Taylor, Jarred (8) and Santana, Jonathan.
Win-Scioneaux, Tate (9-2) Loss-Priddle, Jordan (4-6) T-2:18 A-644
HR SLU - Carr, Kevin (4).
Weather: Overcast, 83, Wind-SW 10 MPH
