HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana exploded for a season-high in runs Wednesday afternoon, tomahawking Alcorn State, 21-0, in a seven-inning, non-conference victory at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
The win extended Southeastern's school-record winning streak to 14 games and it was also the 100th career victory for head coach
Matt Riser. The fastest to 100 in program history, Riser reached the milestone in 148 games. Former Lion head coach Greg Marten previously held the distinction, needing 159 games to earn his 100th victory.
For the second-consecutive game, Southeastern (20-6) scored in every inning it batted. The Lions have now scored at least one run in 12 straight innings.
Shortstop
Brennan Breaud got the offense going in the first with a one-out walk off Alcorn (4-18) starting pitcher Payden Lynch (0-2) and then stole second base. Breaud advanced to third base on
Jameson Fisher's infield single and scored on
Daniel Midyett's RBI single to right field.
Fisher, a junior from Zachary, Louisiana, scored on
Webb Bobo's RBI single to right, putting the Lions up, 2-0.
Right fielder
Julian Service chopped an infield single to short, but the throw from Alcorn's Moses Charles skipped past the first baseman and allowed Midyett to score.
Bobo and Service crossed home as second baseman
Carson Crites followed by ripping a two-run double to left-center field for a 5-0 lead.
The Lions added a run in the second to make it 6-0 and then tacked on five more in the third. All the while Southeastern starting pitcher
Pat Cashman (3-0) was on cruise control, retiring the first 10 batters he faced.
Some extra-base hits started to fall in for the Lions in the fourth.
After Crites beat out an infield single with one out, catcher
Chris Eades smashed a double to straight-away center field. Both came home to score on
Taylor Schwaner's double inside the left-field line, putting Southeastern up, 13-0.
First baseman
Sam Roberson doubled to lead off the fifth and scored after reliever Jahborous Smith walked Bobo with one out and then hit back-to-back batters.
Freshman catcher
Evan Pace greeted Daniel Corona, the new Braves pitcher, with a grand slam to left, picking up the first hit of his collegiate career.
Up 18-0 entering the sixth, the Lions struck three more times against Corona. Pitcher
Derrick Mount, right fielder
Ryan Byers and left fielder
Drew Avans cranked back-to-back-to-back solo home runs to left.
All nine starters reach safely for Southeastern, while Breaud, Crites, Fisher, Midyett and Pace each picked up a pair of hits. The Lions recorded 19 hits, a season high, and it marks the 16th time the team has produced double-digit hits this season.
Crites, Fisher, Midyett, Pace and Schwaner all had multi-RBI games, while Avans, Breaud, Byers, Crites, Fisher, Pace and Seward each scored multiple times.
Cashman earned the win, fanning seven batters in four scoreless innings of work. Right-handers
Corey Gaconi, Mount and
Josh Green each worked a scoreless inning in relief.
Southeastern returns to Southland Conference play this coming weekend against Nicholls. The Lions will host a pair of games during the series, Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The middle game of the series will be played Saturday at 6 p.m. in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
General admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children (ages 3-12) for all individual Lion home games. Southeastern students are admitted free with a valid university ID card. Students and campus organizations can also earn points toward their new Lion Up Loyalty account at any home game just by checking in on the mobile app while in attendance.
Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 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 prior to the scheduled first pitch.
Tickets can also be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets or by contacting the athletics ticket office at (985) 549-5466 or 1-866-LION-TIX.
Southeastern 21, Alcorn State 0 (Mar 30, 2016 at Hammond, La.)
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Alcorn State......... 000 000 0 - 0 3 1 (4-18)
Southeastern........ 515 253 X - 21 19 0 (20-6)
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Pitchers: Alcorn State – Lynch, Payden; Thompson, Devontae (3); Smith, Jahborous (4); Corona, Daniel (5); Lopez, Carlos (6) and Sanez, Jason. Southeastern - Cashman, Pat; Gaconi, Corey (5); Mount, Derrick (6); Green, Josh (7) and Eades, Chris; Pace, Evan.
Win-Cashman, Pat (3-0) Loss-Lynch, Payden (0-2) T-2:17 A-921
HR SLU - Byers, Ryan (2); Avans, Drew (1); Pace, Evan (1); Mount, Derrick (1).
Weather: Cloudy 74, SE 16 mph