HAMMOND, La. – The Southland Conference baseball preseason polls released earlier in the week by the league office favored Southeastern Louisiana to repeat as regular-season champs, but more than just conference peers consider the Lions to be the best team in the Southland.
Coming off a dominant season, national publication Baseball America and website D1 Baseball (www.d1baseball.com) both picked Southeastern to repeat as conference champions.
Matt Riser, the 2015 Southland Conference Coach of the Year, returns at the Lions' helm for his third season. Southeastern completed last season 42-17 overall and 25-5 in league action, setting the Southland record for conference wins en route to winning the first Southland regular-season title in program history.
Both outlets also ranked the Southland's top pro prospects in their conference previews, tabbing
Jameson Fisher, a redshirt junior from Zachary, Louisiana, as the consensus No. 1-ranked prospect in the Southland.
Baseball America included
Kyle Cedotal (No. 4), a senior left-hander from Denham Springs, Louisiana, and outfielder
Julian Service (No. 9), a senior from Sarnia, Ontario, with Fisher in its Top-10 pro prospects.
Cedotal (No. 7), Service (No. 8),
Domenick Carlini (No. 18), a senior southpaw from Nesbit, Mississippi, and
Mac Sceroler (No. 19), a sophomore righty from Denham Springs, also drew favorable ratings from D1 Baseball.
The website tabbed left-hander
Payton Robinson, a native of Mobile, Alabama, as a potential impact freshman.
Southeastern opens the 2016 season Feb. 19 at home with a three-game series against UL Monroe and the Lions' Southland action commences March 11 at home against UIW. The Southland Conference Tournament, featuring the league's top eight teams, will be played May 25-28 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
Baseball season tickets are currently on sale. Options include box seats ($275), reserved seats ($125) and general admission ($100). A family plan that includes two adult and two youth (ages 3-12) general admission tickets is also available for $200. Southeastern students will be admitted free to home games with a valid university ID card.
Fans have until the Lions' season opener to purchase season ticket packages and can do so by contacting the athletics ticket office at (985) 549-5466 or 1-866-LION-TIX. Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Fridays.
