HAMMOND, La. – Six Southeastern Louisiana pitchers combined on a shutout of Jackson State, the third-highest scoring team in the nation, in a 15-0 non-conference win Wednesday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Southeastern (32-13), which entered the game third in the nation in ERA and eighth in shutouts, tossed its eighth shutout and lowered its ERA to 2.45 for the season. Jackson State (26-24) entered the game averaging 8.6 runs scored per game.
The Lions took advantage of some wildness on the part of Jackson State starting pitcher Jesse Anderson (1-3) in the first inning, scoring three runs. Anderson walked three, walking in a run, and hit a batter before center fielder
Jacob Seward pushed across a run with a bases-loaded bunt single.
In the second,
Jameson Fisher pulled a two-out double inside the first-base line and scored on
Carson Crites' two-run home run to left field. The homer, Crites' eighth of the season, put the Lions up, 5-0, over Jackson State.
Crites led off Southeastern's next run-scoring inning, the fifth, with a double down the left-field line. With two outs, catcher
Sam Roberson drove in Crites with a single to left-center. Anderson and reliever Richard Brown then combined to walk four-consecutive batters, forcing in another two runs.
Crites started off another rally in the sixth with a single through the right side. Left fielder
Drew Avans followed with another single to right and then pinch hitter
Ryan Byers drew a walk to load the bases. Roberson and Seward each drove in runs with a pair of sacrifice flies.
Third baseman
Derrick Mount drove in Byers, yanking a two-run homer inside the left-field foul pole to put Southeastern up, 12-0.
The Lions added three more runs in the eighth to cap off the scoring.
Starting pitcher
Pat Cashman (4-3) earned the win, allowing three hits over five innings of work. The senior right-hander fanned four and did not walk a batter. Anderson suffered the loss.
Cliff Hurst,
Payton Robinson and
Carlo Graffeo each worked a scoreless inning in relief. Avans fanned both batters he faced in the ninth and
Kade Granier picked up the game's final out.
Crites (3-for-4), Avans (2-for-4) and Roberson (2-for-3) each turned in multi-hit performances. Roberson drove in three runs, while
Brennan Breaud, Crites, Mount and Seward each plated a pair. Crites scored a team-high four runs.
Southeastern travels to Lamar this coming weekend for a key Southland Conference series in Beaumont, Texas. The first-place Lions lead third-place Lamar by two games in the conference standings, with three weeks left in the regular season.
Southeastern 15, Jackson State 0 (May 04, 2016 at Hammond, La.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jackson State....... 000 000 000 - 0 7 2 (26-24)
Southeastern........ 320 034 03X - 15 13 1 (32-13)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Jackson State – Anderson, Jesse; Brown, Richard (5); Sweeting, Jashanno (5); Aponte, Jonathan (6); Hassan, Theo (7) and Diaz, Carlos; Burke, David. Southeastern - Cashman, Pat; Hurst, Cliff (6); Robinson, Payton (7); Graffeo, Carlo (8); Avans, Drew (9); Granier, Kade (9) and Roberson, Sam; Pace, Evan.
Win-Cashman, Pat (4-3) Loss-Anderson, Jesse (1-3) T-2:44 A-1073
HR SLU - Crites, Carson (8); Mount, Derrick (3).
Weather: Sunny, Clear 76, NW 9 mph
R. Brown faced 3 batters in the 5th.
