HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana picked up a pair of big wins Wednesday over No. 18-ranked UL Lafayette, wrapping up a game suspended earlier in the season with a 5-4 walk-off win in 14 innings and then pounding the Ragin' Cajuns, 15-3, at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
The Lions (16-9) got back to their combination of solid pitching and manufacturing runs, breaking a five-game losing streak. The wins also allowed Southeastern to take the season series with one game left to play April 19 at UL Lafayette (14-11).
Third baseman
Taylor Schwaner pieced together a solid day. In the resumption of the Feb. 20 game against the Ragin' Cajuns, the junior from New Orleans, Louisiana, completed the cycle by blasting a walk-off, solo home run in the bottom of the 14th inning.
On the way to breaking the losing streak, Schwaner reached base five times in the later game. Hit by a pitch twice, he helped the Lions established a new single-game record with nine hit batters in the contest.
Southeastern returns to Southland Conference action Friday, hosting McNeese at 6 p.m. in the opener of a three-game series at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. Saturday's game will also be at 6 p.m. while Sunday's series finale is slated for 1 p.m.
General Admission tickets for each Lion home game are $9 for adults and $6 for children (ages 3-12). Tax is included in the price of admission. Southeastern students are admitted free with a valid university ID card.
Students and campus organizations can earn points toward their Lion Up Loyalty account at any home game by checking in on the mobile app while in attendance.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets or by contacting the athletics ticket office at (985) 549-5466 or 1-866-LION-TIX. Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Fridays. The box office at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field opens one hour prior to the scheduled first pitch.
Southeastern 5, UL Lafayette 4 (Feb 20, 2017 at Hammond, La.)
The game resumed with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning, Schwaner running at first base and left fielder
Drew Avans at the plate. Schwaner was caught stealing to end the inning.
Southeastern and the Ragin' Cajuns rolled through the 12th and 13th without any runs scored. In the top of the 14th, Lion reliever
Josh Green (1-0) retired the side in order.
Catcher
Evan Pace drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the 14th, but was caught stealing prior to Schwaner's game-winning blast.
The homer was Schwaner's seventh of the season and second game-winning home run in as many extra-inning games this season for the Lions. He previously smacked a two-run blast to help Southeastern walk-off with a 4-2 win over West Virginia, in 12 innings, back on March 8 at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Green earned the win, his first of the season. The junior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, allowed one unearned run in 4.2 innings, surrendering seven hits and a pair of walks. He struck out a pair of batters.
Wyatt Marks (1-1) suffered the loss, allowing one run on one hit in three innings of relief. He walked one and fanned a pair of batters.
Schwaner led the Lions at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a single, double, triple, home run, a walk and two RBIs. He also scored two runs and was hit by a pitch. Schwaner was the first Southeastern player to hit for the cycle since former Lion Cass Hargis accomplished the feat against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on April 18, 2009.
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UL Lafayette........ 000 200 000 200 00 - 4 12 1 (14-10)
Southeastern....... 100 100 000 200 01 - 5 9 1 (15-9)
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Pitchers: UL Lafayette - Guillory, Evan; Harris, Hogan (6); Moore, Dylan (7); Lee, Colton (10); Marks, Wyatt (11) and Monica, Handsome. Southeastern - Gaconi, Corey; Hileman, Evan (6); Green, Josh (10) and Wasinger, Daniel; Pace, Evan.
Win-Green, Josh (1-0) Loss-Marks, Wyatt (1-1) T-4:38 A-1576
HR SLU - Schwaner, Taylor; Crites, Carson.
Gaconi, C. faced 1 batter in the 6th.
Southeastern 15, UL Lafayette 3 (Mar 29, 2017 at Hammond, La.)
The Lions knocked out UL Lafayette starting pitcher Haden Erbe (0-1) in the first inning.
Drew Avans led off the inning with a double to right-center field. A pair of one-out walks to
Carson Crites and Schwaner loaded the bases. With two outs, Erbe hit back-to-back batters to force in a pair of runs and also force his untimely exit.
UL Lafayette cut the Lion lead in half in the third, with shortstop Hunter Kasuls leading off the inning with a solo home run to right field.
The Lions responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
Southeastern added four more runs in the fifth. After UL Lafayette scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth, the Lions scored five more runs in the bottom of the inning.
Getting back to manufacturing runs, Southeastern scored 15 runs on just eight hits. Ragin' Cajun pitchers hit nine batters, a Southeastern single-game record, and walked 10. The Lions drove in six runs without the benefit of a hit, with three sacrifice flies, two hit batters and a walk.
Payton Robinson (1-0), a sophomore from Mobile, Alabama, earned the win. He allowed two unearned runs on just one hit in 3.1 innings of relief work. Robinson did not walk a batter and struck out four.
Erbe suffered the loss, allowing two runs in 0.2 innings of work. He allowed one hit, walked and hit two batters apiece, and fanned one.
Avans (2-for-4),
Brennan Breaud (2-for-4) and
Trey Morgan (2-for-4) all enjoyed multi-hit performances. Breaud and Crites each homered for Southeastern.
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UL Lafayette........ 001 002 000 - 3 8 1 (15-11)
Southeastern....... 204 045 00X - 15 8 3 (16-9)
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Pitchers: UL Lafayette - Erbe, Haden; Huval, Jevin (1); Norman, Jacob (3); Charpentier, Chris (5); Armstrong, Caleb (6); Stoelke, Logan (8) and Monica, Handsome; Aguilar, Josh. Southeastern - Graffeo, Carlo; Robinson, Payton (3); Dalke, Matt (7); Pickett, Gage (9) and Pace, Evan; Wasinger, Daniel.
Win-Robinson, Payton (1-0) Loss-Erbe, Haden (0-1) T-3:07 A-1619
HR LA - Kasuls, Hunter.
HR SLU - Crites, Carson; Breaud, Brennan.
Weather: Cloudy, 69 deg, SE 11 MPH
Charpentier faced 2 batters in the 6th.
