HAMMOND, La. – Mason Knopp was nearly unhittable Tuesday as the right-hander allowed just a pair of hits over eight innings and Southeastern Louisiana shut out Purdue, 4-0, at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
 
A junior from Fort Scott, Kansas, Knopp (1-1) allowed a first-inning single to the Boilermakers (9-5) and then held their hitters in check until a leadoff double in the eighth. He allowed one walk, hit one batter and struck out four in earning his first win at Southeastern (12-6).
 
The Lions gave him all the run support he would need in the bottom of the first.
 
Taking advantage of wildness by Purdue starting pitcher Trent Johnson (0-1), the Lions drew three walks in the inning. Brennan Breaud, who drew a walk to open up the inning, scored on a one-out sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Bryce Steckler.
 
After hitting a batter with one out in the third, Knopp retired the next 13 batters. A 6-4-3 double play ball got him out of the inning, starting the stretch.
 
As Knopp cruised, Southeastern added a run in the fifth on back-to-back, two-out doubles by Trenon Trosclair and Cody Grosse.
 
The Lions added some insurance runs in the eighth.
 
Drew Avans, who was named the Southland Conference Hitter of the Week prior to the ballgame, smashed his team-leading third home run of the season leading off the inning.
 
Reliever Trevor Cheaney issued a one-out walk to Taylor Schwaner, his third of the game, before Kyle Schimpf singled to advance Schwaner into scoring position. He scored on Evan Pace's single to right field.
 
Will Warren, a freshman right-hander from Brandon, Mississippi, closed out the game with a scoreless ninth. He worked around an error to open the inning, striking out the next batter.
 
Grosse (2-for-4) and Trosclair (2-for-4) led the Lions at the plate.
 
Southeastern travels to Biloxi, Mississippi, Wednesday, kicking off a six-game road trip with a 6:35 p.m. matchup with No. 19-ranked Mississippi State (10-6) at MGM Park, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers' Double-A affiliate.
 
Junior right-hander Corey Gaconi (0-0, 6.14) gets the start for the Lions, facing off against Bulldog sophomore right-hander Cole Marsh (1-0, 1.42).
 
The game 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 also keep up with all the action through live statistics or by following @SLUathletics on Twitter.
   
Links for audio and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
 
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