BEAUMONT, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana erased a 5-1 deficit with an eight-run fifth inning, flying past Lamar, 14-6, in Southland Conference action Friday at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
The Lions (33-13, 19-3 Southland) sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning, responding to a three-run home run by Lamar (31-13, 16-6 Southland) in the fourth.
Lamar scored an unearned run in the first on an errant pickoff attempt.
Southeastern tied in in the third on a sacrifice fly by second baseman
Carson Crites, but the Cardinals immediately answered to regain the lead, 2-1.
After Lion starting pitcher
Kyle Cedotal walked the leadoff hitter in the fourth, and hit the next batter, first baseman Trey Silvers smashed a three-run home run to give Lamar its largest lead, 5-1.
Cardinal starting pitcher Will Hibbs, who entered the game second in the Southland with a 1.89 ERA, walked
Brennan Breaud and
Daniel Midyett to open up the fifth.
Jameson Fisher followed with the first of his two RBI doubles in the inning, driving in Breaud. Midyett scored on the play as the center fielder misplayed the ball. With one out, left fielder
Drew Avans rapped a single, putting runners on the corners for
Ryan Byers.
The Lion right fielder smashed a ball to left-center for his sixth home run of the season, giving Southeastern the lead, 6-5.
Batting around, the Lions returned to Midyett. The senior from Shreveport, Louisiana, plated a pair on a single, setting up Fisher for his second RBI double.
Lamar touched Cedotal for another run in the fifth, pulling within 9-6, but reliever
Josh Green shut down the bats for the remainder of the game.
Southeastern added two more runs in the sixth and three in the ninth to close out the scoring.
Cedotal (5-4) earned the win, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks. The senior from Denham Springs, Louisiana, fanned six. Green, a sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, worked four scoreless innings to close out the game and earn the first save of his career. Hibbs (9-2) was tagged with the loss.
Derrick Mount (3-for-4),
Jacob Seward (3-for-5), Avans (2-for-5), Byers (2-for-5) and Fisher (2-for-5) all turned in multi-hit performances. Byers drove in five with a home run and a triple.
Southeastern leads the conference by one game over Sam Houston State and three games over Lamar. The Cardinals host Sam Houston State next weekend, while the Lions play six of their final eight conference games on the road. With the win Southeastern clinched a spot in the 2016 Southland Conference Tournament to be held May 25-28 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
Game two of the series is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday and the Lions will send sophomore right-hander
Mac Sceroler (8-2, 2.00) to the mound opposite Lamar senior righty Billy Love (5-2, 2.48).
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 14, Lamar 6 (May 06, 2016 at Beaumont, Texas)
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Southeastern........ 001 082 003 - 14 15 2 (33-13, 19-3 SLC)
Lamar.................. 101 310 000 - 6 13 2 (31-13, 16-6 SLC)
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Pitchers: Southeastern - Cedotal, Kyle; Green, Josh (6) and Roberson, Sam. Lamar - Hibbs, Will; Johnson, Jimmy (5); Andrews, Galen (6); Brown, Brett (6); White, Matt (9); Thomas, Connor (9); Janak, Brent (9) and Arredondo, Bryndan.
Win-Cedotal, Kyle (5-4) Save-Green, Josh (1) Loss-Hibbs, Will (9-2) T-3:18 A-741
HR SLU - Byers, Ryan (6).
HR LU - Silvers, Trey (5).
Weather: 81 deg. and clear.
Thomas, C. faced 2 batters in the 9th.
