NATCHITOCHES, La. – Southeastern Louisiana, which held a one-run lead for six innings, scored an unearned run in the ninth for a 2-1, Southland Conference win Friday over Northwestern State at Brown-Stroud Field.
The Lions (24-7, 12-1 Southland) picked up their 14th win over Northwestern State (16-14, 7-6 Southland) in the series' last 18 games.
Left-hander
Kyle Cedotal survived a sluggish start, his first nine pitches were out of the strike zone, to match Demon starting pitcher Adam Oller in a game dominated by pitching.
After walking designated hitter Matt Valdez, hitting left fielder Cort Brinson with a pitch and falling behind 2-0 on catcher Daniel Garner, Cedotal settled in. The senior from Denham Springs, Louisiana, got Garner to pop up to third base on his way to retiring three straight to get out of the inning.
In the second Southeastern took advantage of a bit of wildness by Oller. The right-hander issued back-to-back, one-out walks to right fielder
Webb Bobo and second baseman
Carson Crites.
Left fielder
Drew Avans smacked an RBI single to right-center field, driving in Bobo for a 1-0 lead.
Cedotal made the lead stand up into the eighth. The left-hander stranded runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
In the eighth, Cedotal issued a leadoff walk to Valdez and Brinson chopped an infield single to shortstop. Garner greeted reliever
Kade Granier (3-0) with a sacrifice bunt, advancing both runners into scoring position. Third baseman David Fry tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center, driving in Valdez.
Granier issued a two-out walk before getting shortstop Matthew Alford to end the inning with a flyout to right.
Crites led off the ninth with a single to center off Demon reliever Devin Bear (0-1). Avans sacrificed Crites to second and Northwestern State went to the bullpen for right-hander Austin Reich.
With two outs, third baseman
Taylor Schwaner chopped a ball to short that Alford booted, allowing Crites to score with the winning run.
Granier worked a scoreless ninth, stranding the potential tying run at second, to close out the game and earn the win. Bear was tagged with the loss.
Crites led all hitters, going 2-for-3 at the plate.
Saturday at 2 p.m. the Lions will send sophomore right-hander
Mac Sceroler (4-2, 2.43) to the mound opposite Northwestern State senior lefty Chase Hymel (2-3, 3.08) in game two of the series.
The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online and through the TuneIn Radio app (search for KSLU). Fans can also keep up with the game through live statistics or by following SLUathletics on Twitter. Links for audio, video and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern La. 2, Northwestern State 1 (Apr 08, 2016 at Natchitoches, La.)
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Southeastern La........ 010 000 001 - 2 4 1 (24-7, 12-1 SLC)
Northwestern State... 000 000 010 - 1 4 3 (16-14, 7-6 SLC)
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Pitchers: Southeastern La. - Cedotal, Kyle; Granier, Kade (8) and Roberson, Sam. Northwestern State - Oller, Adam; Bear, Devin (8); Reich, Austin (9) and Garner, Daniel.
Win-Granier, Kade (3-0) Loss-Bear, Devin (0-1) T-3:07 A-682
Weather: 68 and clear
Cedotal, K. faced 2 batters in the 8th.
