SUGAR LAND, Texas – No . 2-seeded Southeastern Louisiana scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday without a base hit, rallying to defeat in-state rival and No. 7-seeded New Orleans, 5-4, at Constellation Field in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament.
Trailing 4-3 entering the ninth, Southeastern (37-18) took advantage of three New Orleans (30-25) errors to score a pair of unearned runs. The Lions only recorded three hits in the game, but all three directly contributed to runs scored earlier in the game.
"We didn't put a whole lot of pressure on them offensively, but at the end of the day we got the job done," Southeastern head coach
Matt Riser said. "When we started playing the way we're supposed to play, and play fast, we put pressure on the defense and they made mistakes. When you do that, you score some runs."
Leading off the ninth, center fielder
Jacob Seward, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, chopped a slow roller up the third-base side of the mound off an 0-2 pitch. Privateer closer Daniel Martinez pounced on the ball, but spun and threw wildly to first base. Martinez's throw wound up in the stands as Seward advanced to second.
"I played with Daniel [Martinez] in summer ball, and I'd rather play in the outfield behind him than hit against him," Seward said. "He's dirty, very dirty. I was lucky to get a piece of it and once I saw where it was, it was almost a swinging bunt, I was just trying to get down the line as fast as I could."
After pinch hitter
Sam Roberson sacrificed Seward to third, he scored on a play at the plate. Third baseman
Derrick Mount, a junior from Saucier, Mississippi, chopped a ball to UNO first baseman Dakota Dean, but Dean's throw home sailed wide of the plate and past catcher Kyle Bracey to the backstop. Mount wound up at second on the play.
After
Brennan Breaud, the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, drew a one-out walk, designated hitter
Daniel Midyett hit a slow bouncer to the shortstop. Aaron Palmer was unable to field the ball cleanly and Midyett reached on the error, loading the bases for Southland Conference Player of the Year
Jameson Fisher.
"I told the team to put the ball on the ground" Riser said. "We had too many flyouts and too many easy outs. Fisher actually crushes one to right field earlier that got held up in the wind and that was a tell for us to put the ball on the ground."
Fisher lofted a 1-2 pitch to deep left-center field, plating Mount with the winning run.
"That's the moment you dream about," Fisher said. "You have to want to be in those moments, a chance to walk it off and have the water thrown all over you."
Southeastern had taken a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning, but just like during the regular-season series the Privateers responded immediately.
After an error and back-to-back triples put UNO back on top, 4-3, senior left-hander
Kyle Cedotal battled back to fan the next two batters and then get the final out of the inning on a grounder to first.
"This is a resilient bunch," Riser said. "We could've easily mailed it in. We had a few situations that didn't go our way. Kyle [Cedotal] wasn't his best, but made some big pitches in some big situations. The runner at third base with nobody out really sticks out to me."
Both starting pitchers struggled with their control.
Cedotal walked six, and hit a batter, in 6.1 innings of work. He allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits. The native of Denham Springs, Louisiana, fanned a pair. UNO's Riley Hodge walked five in seven innings of work, scattering three hits and allowing three runs. He also fanned a pair.
Southland Conference Relief Pitcher of the Year
Kade Granier (5-1) earned the win, retiring both batters he faced in the ninth. Martinez (4-4) suffered the loss, allowing a pair of unearned runs in 1.2 innings of work. He walked three and struck out one.
Southeastern advances to a winner's bracket matchup with No. 6-seeded McNeese State (30-23, 15-15 Southland) Thursday at 4 p.m. The Cowboys shut out No. 3-seeded Northwestern State (33-23, 20-10 Southland), 3-0, in the tournament's opening game. The Demons will face New Orleans in an elimination game Thursday at 9 a.m.
All of Southeastern's tournament games 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.
For the second consecutive season, every game of the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament will be carried live on ESPN3, ESPN's live multi-screen sports network. It is accessible online at www.WatchESPN.com, plus on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN and ESPN apps. Games can also be streamed via Amazon Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Links for audio, video, stats, a tournament central page and tickets are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern 5, New Orleans 4 (May 25, 2016 at Sugar Land, Texas)
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New Orleans......... 101 020 000 - 4 8 4 (30-25)
Southeastern......... 001 200 002 - 5 3 2 (37-18)
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Pitchers: New Orleans - Hodge, Riley; Martinez, Daniel (8) and Bracey, Kyle. Southeastern - Cedotal, Kyle; Green, Josh (7); Granier, Kade (9) and Eades, Chris.
Win-Granier, Kade (5-1) Loss-Martinez, Daniel (4-4) T-2:58
Weather: 87 deg, cloudy, SSE 12-14 mph
No. 2 seed Southeastern Louisiana Lions (37-18, 22-8 SLC) vs. No. 6 seed McNeese Cowboys (30-23, 15-15 SLC)
DATES / TIMES / PITCHING MATCHUP
Thursday, May 26 – 4 p.m. (CT)
SLU – TBA (0-0, 0.00) vs.
MCN – Senior RHP Ethan Stremmel (4-1, 3.84)
STADIUM
Constellation Field (Sugar Land, Texas)
RADIO
• KSLU, 90.9 FM
• Pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to first pitch
TELEVISION
• ESPN3
•
www.WatchESPN.com, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One
INTERNET / MOBILE DEVICE
• www.LionSports.net – live audio, stats and video
• TuneIn Radio app
