SUGAR LAND, Texas – After falling in an early 4-0 hole, Southeastern Louisiana scored runs in each of the final seven innings to rally for a 12-7 victory over New Orleans on the opening day of the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament Wednesday afternoon at Constellation Field.
 
The second-seeded Lions (36-18) advance to face Sam Houston State on Thursday at 4 p.m. The Bearkats opened the day with a 13-1 run-rule victory over Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday. UNO (28-27-1) will face SFA in an elimination game on Thursday at 9 a.m.
 
"It's always important if you want to make a deep run in this tournament, you have to get that first one," Southeastern head coach Matt Riser said. "I'm really proud of how our guys kept taking it pitch-by-pitch and kept battling at the plate to get us back into the game."
 
What figured to be a pitcher's duel was anything but, as the two teams combined for 22 hits, including six home runs. Neither team's first team All-Southland Conference starting pitcher had their best stuff, as SLU junior Mac Sceroler and UNO's Shawn Semple each gave up six runs and were out of the game by the sixth inning.
 
Sceroler did run his season strikeout total to 107, moving him past Chris Laiche for fourth place on the school's single-season list. However, the story of the day were the Lion bats, which woke up in the third inning on the way to one of SLU's best offensive outputs of the season.
 
Senior Carson Crites led the way at the plate for SLU with a 3-for-5 showing and drove in a team-high three runs. Senior Webb Bobo, senior Derrick Mount and junior Drew Avans each homered for the Lions.
 
The Lion bullpen righted the ship after Sceroler's struggles. Junior Josh Green (5-0) tossed 2.2 innings of relief to earn the victory. Junior Evan Hileman pitched a perfect 1.1 innings to earn his team-high fifth save of the year.
 
"Mac didn't have his best stuff today, but UNO can really swing it and that lineup deserves a lot of credit for jumping on our mistakes," Riser said. "We gave Josh the game ball today. He slowed down their momentum and gave our offense a chance to get going."
 
UNO jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. After Aaron Palmer led off the frame with a single, John Cable powered a 3-2 pitch over the right field fence to give the Privateers a 2-0 advantage with his third home run of the season.
 
The Privateers doubled their lead in the top of the second inning. Tristan Clarke hit the first pitch of the inning off the top of the centerfield fence and then scored on an RBI groundout by Darren Willis. One batter later, Orynn Veillon lined his team-high 14^th home run of the season over the left field wall to stake UNO to a 4-0 advantage.
 
After Semple retired the first six Lion batters, Avans led off the bottom of the third with his third home run of the season to pull SLU within 4-1.
 
The Lions pulled closer in their half of the fourth, as junior Taylor Schwaner and Crites led off the frame with consecutive singles. After both were moved into scoring position, Darren Willis booted an Avans grounder, allowing Schwaner to score. Crites tried to score all the way from second, but was thrown out at home to keep the UNO lead to 4-2.
 
The Privateers got the runs back in the top of the fifth inning. Veillon led off the frame with his second home run of the contest. Later in the frame, Cable singled, moved to third on a double by Hezekiah Randolph and scored when Sceroler uncorked a wild pitch to give UNO a 6-2 advantage.
 
Southeastern cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fifth. Junior Daniel Wasinger led off the frame with a single, moved to third on a double into the left field corner by senior Ryan Byers and scored on a RBI groundout by sophomore Brennan Breaud. Byers would later score on a wild pitch by Semple to cut the lead to 6-4.
 
The Lions pulled even in the bottom of the sixth inning. Consecutive solo home runs by Bobo and Mount tied the score at 6-6.
 
SLU took the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh inning. Breaud started the rally with a double into the left centerfield gap off UNO reliever Reeves Martin (2-4), which Schwaner followed with a walk. After a double steal moved both into scoring position, Crites sliced a line drive into left field to score Breaud with the go-ahead run.
 
Bobo followed with a slow grounder that scored Schwaner. Later in the frame, consecutive wild pitches by Christopher DeMayo plated two more runs to give SLU a 10-6 lead after seven innings.
 
UNO answered with a run of its own in the top of the eighth inning. Randolph led the inning off with a single and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by Jay Robinson. Hileman then came in and forced Willis to pop out to keep the SLU lead at 10-7.
 
Southeastern closed out the scoring in the bottom of the eighth inning, loading the bases with no outs. Crites then laced an RBI single to right centerfield to score a pair of runs to provide the final margin.

For the third consecutive season, every game of the Southland Tournament will be carried live by ESPN3, ESPN's live multi-screen sports network.

It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, plus on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN and ESPN apps. Games can also be streamed via Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Sling TV, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
 
All of Southeastern's games in the tournament can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, and worldwide online or through the TuneIn Radio app (search for KSLU). Fans can keep up with the game through live statistics or by following @SLUathletics on Twitter.
 
Links for audio, video, stats and tickets can be found on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.


The victor of the Southland tournament is the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament. The selection show airs Monday, May 29 at 11 a.m., CT, on ESPNU.

Tickets are available for purchase at the Constellation Field box office, by phone at 281-240-4487 and online at www.SugarLandSkeeters.com. Online orders are subject to a $2 service charge per ticket.
 
UNO – 220 020 010 – 7 10 2 (28-27-1)
SLU – 001 122 42x – 12 12 0 (36-18)
Shawn Semple, Reeves Martin (6), Christopher DeMayo (7), Matt Gillis (7), Rafael Martinez (8) and John Cable. Mac Sceroler, Josh Green (6), Evan Hileman (8) and Daniel Wasinger. W – Green (5-0). L – Martin (2-4). Save – Hileman (5). HR – UNO: John Cable (3), Orlin Veillon 2 (15); SLU: Drew Avans (3), Webb Bobo (4), Derrick Mount (4). 3B – UNO: Tristan Clarke (2). 2B – UNO: Hezekiah Robinson (13); SLU: Ryan Byers (14), Brennan Breaud (8). T – 2:52. A – n/a.

Tournament Ticket Options:
All-Session Ticket: $60
Single Day Ticket: $19
Children 5 and Under: Free
Students at Southland Conference Institutions: Free (with valid ID)


2017 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 24
Game One: No. 3 Sam Houston State 13, No. 6 Stephen F. Austin 1 (7 Innings)
Game Two: No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana 12, No. 7 New Orleans 7
Game Three: No. 8 Lamar vs. No. 1 McNeese, 4 p.m.
Game Four: No. 5 Central Arkansas vs. No. 4 Houston Baptist, 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 25
Game Five: Stephen F. Austin vs. New Orleans, 9 a.m.
Game Six: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 12 p.m.
Game Seven: Sam Houston State vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 4 p.m.
Game Eight: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m.

Friday, May 26
Game Nine: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 5, 9 a.m.
Game 10: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 6, 12 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 4 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 27
Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 11, 9 a.m. *#
Game 14: Loser Game 12 vs. Winner Game 12, 1 p.m. ^#
Championship: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 6 p.m. +

* Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins Game 11.
^ Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12.
# If only one of the two early games is necessary on Saturday, it will be played at 1 p.m., with the Championship Game starting at 6 p.m.
+ If both bracket winners are undefeated, the championship game will be played on Saturday at 6 p.m.

NOTE: There will be a minimum of 45 minutes between games on Wednesday and 30 minutes the remainder of the week with no game starting prior to its scheduled start time.
 
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