HAMMOND, La. – Sophomore left fielder
Drew Avans capped off a two-out rally in the eighth inning Sunday, driving in a pair with a double to left-center field as Southeastern Louisiana defeated UNO, 4-3, in Southland Conference action at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Southeastern (36-15, 22-5 Southland) averted a sweep at the hands of UNO (30-20, 14-13 Southland) and maintained its hold on first place in the conference standings.
The Lions took advantage of early wildness by UNO starting pitcher Bryan Warzek.
Shortstop
Brennan Breaud, a freshman from Norco, Louisiana, and right fielder
Ryan Byers, a junior from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, drew back-to-back walks to open up the bottom of the first inning.
First baseman
Jameson Fisher, who entered the weekend series ranked third in the nation in batting average, smacked an opposite-field double to drive in both and give Southeastern its largest lead of the weekend.
After trading off scoreless innings, the Privateers went ahead, 3-2, in the fourth.
Designated hitter Hezekiah Randolph drew a walk to lead off the inning. Catcher Kyle Bracey followed with a single to center field. First baseman Preston Marsh then doubled into the right-center gap, plating Randolph.
Bracey scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of third baseman Ray Veit and Marsh scored on a bloop single down the left-field line by Ryan Calloway.
Battling back after a rough fourth, Lion starting pitcher
Domenick Carlini, a senior from Nesbit, Mississippi, worked out of a jam in the fifth and then retired the side in order during his final two innings of work.
Meanwhile the Southeastern bats struggled to get going against the Privateer combination of Warzek and Shawn Semple.
Entering the eighth, the Lions had just two hits, both by Fisher.
With two outs, Fisher worked a walk on a full-count pitch. Second baseman
Carson Crites followed by driving a 1-2 pitch into right for a single, setting up Avans' heroics.
Kade Granier (4-0) worked a scoreless eighth and ninth innings to earn the win. He scattered a pair of hits and struck out two. Semple (5-4) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on two hits in 2.2 innings of relief. He walked one and fanned a pair.
Carlini, who didn't factor in the decision, allowed three earned runs on six hits in seven innings of work. The left-hander walked one and fanned three.
Fisher led the Lions at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and one run scored. He walked once and was hit by a pitch.
Southeastern travels to the University of Central Arkansas to wrap up the regular season. The series opens Thursday at 6 p.m., continues Friday with a 6 p.m. contest and concludes with a 1 p.m. game Saturday.
The Lions enter the final series of the season with a one-game lead over second-place Sam Houston State, who hosts Houston Baptist this week.
Southeastern has clinched a spot in the 2016 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, May 25-28, in Sugar Land, Texas. Tickets for the tournament may be purchased through the Sugar Land Skeeters website, www.sugarlandskeeters.com, or by contacting the Skeeters office at (281) 240-4487.
Southeastern 4, New Orleans 3 (May 15, 2016 at Hammond, La.)
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New Orleans......... 000 300 000 - 3 8 0 (30-20, 14-13 SLC)
Southeastern......... 200 000 02X - 4 4 2 (36-15, 22-5 SLC)
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Pitchers: New Orleans - Warzek, Bryan; Semple, Shawn (6) and Bracey, Kyle. Southeastern - Carlini, Domenick; Granier, Kade (8) and Eades, Chris.
Win-Granier, Kade (4-0) Loss-Semple, Shawn (5-4) T-2:25 A-1154
Weather: Cloudy 80, NE 6 mph
