HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana head baseball coach Matt Riser usually asks just one senior to address the crowd at the team's annual First Pitch Banquet, but with a group of 16, he quickly realized that choosing a single representative would be nearly impossible.
 
So he decided to put a new spin on an approach used in previous years: invite a pair of seniors to give a speech together. With this system in mind, it required little mental effort to figure out who he would honor with the opportunity.
 
He needed only to look in the direction of the two seniors who had arguably the most experience in the program – between them were 10 years of camaraderie, memories, and stories just waiting to be shared. It didn't hurt that right-handed relief pitcher Kade Granier and infielder Scottie Sanders were the last two players who remained from the 2015 Southland Conference championship team, either.
 
"It started with their freshman year when we won the conference championship; they've been there for all the regional appearances we've made," Riser said. "They have a lot to bring to the table for us."
 
While Riser expects leadership from every senior in the program, Granier and Sanders could be considered the elder statesmen of the team – especially during a season with so many new names in the lineup.
 
The players are more than capable of leading the team through an extended winning streak or a slight rough patch, since, in their five-year careers, they have each faced their fair share of hills and valleys.
 
Early in his career, Granier – who hails from Destrehan, Louisiana – primarily entered games as a closer. He was named the 2016 Southland Conference Relief Pitcher of the Year after a sophomore season in which he allowed six earned runs over 22 appearances, and he had already earned a spot on the NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year Watchlist.
 
With some confidence that he was ready to take on more responsibilities, the coaching staff elected to move Granier to the role of Sunday starter before the 2017 season.
 
The transition from the bullpen wasn't exactly seamless – in 24.1 innings of work, he recorded a 5.42 ERA – but he began to show his true potential toward the beginning of Southland Conference play. Poised to become a potent force on the Lions' pitching staff, his season prematurely ended after suffering a labrum tear before his March 26 start at Houston Baptist.
 
"The most difficult part [of recovering from the injury] was having to watch my team go through the grind of a season and knowing that I couldn't do anything about it," said Granier. "There's always the other part, having to come back and relearn your delivery and mechanics. But the hardest part was not being able to help my team out."
 
As far as Sanders is concerned, his road to the starting lineup has been equally tinged with triumph and heartache.
 
His had little to do with raw athletic talent and everything to do with some rather unfortunate timing.
 
Sanders can still remember every detail from the day that Riser called him into the baseball office for an important meeting. The previous night, the Lions had shellacked Alcorn State by a score of 15-3 – but, much to his disappointment, Sanders hadn't contributed at all. Instead, he had watched the prospects for his sophomore season fly off the bat of Jameson Fisher.
 
Choosing to redshirt a healthy player in his sophomore season was a rare occasion for Riser, but it would not exactly be advisable to take the nation's leading hitter out of the everyday lineup. Sanders handled the situation with maturity and a competitive attitude, which assured his head coach that there were no hard feelings and that he would only learn from the experience.
 
After having such a horrendous start to his college baseball career, Sanders could have easily returned to his hometown of Thibodaux, Louisiana, to play for the Southland Conference rival Nicholls State. His father, Scott Sanders, pitched for the Colonels before embarking on a seven-year-long Major League Baseball career and belonged to the Athletics Hall of Fame there.
 
Yet, his heart belonged to the school where he had originally committed.
 
"I could tell that [the coaches] really loved the game, and they didn't focus on just baseball," Sanders explained. "They put their focus on building character for [the players] to be better men later in life."
 
That is certainly the case for Sanders, who aspires to work as a sports orthopedic surgeon and plans to attend medical school once he graduates from Southeastern this May.
 
Granier, for his part, recently graduated with a degree in sports management this past December.
 
Despite dropping the first four games of the 2019 season, Granier and Sanders continue to rely on their knowledge of the program's history and how the players can begin to right the ship with several more games ahead.
 
Even their fellow seniors are repaying the favor – since they benefited from the wisdom years ago.
 
"They just brought me through their past experiences and they told me things that have happened in games," said senior second baseman Brennan Breaud, who is also Granier's cousin. "I was fortunate enough to play all four years with them. It's been really good to have those guys around, especially since they've been here for five years."
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets can be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets or by contacting the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Fridays.

General Admission tickets for Lion home games are $9 for adults and $6 for children (ages 3-12). Southeastern students are admitted free with a valid university ID card.
 
The ticket booth at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field opens exactly one hour before first pitch.
 
LIONS GAMEDAY EXPERIENCE APP
The new Lions Gameday Experience app puts audio, stats, video, social media and more in the hands of fans. Those in attendance can also check in to earn reward points redeemable for Southeastern-related prizes. Available for both Android and iOS devices, it can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 fall semester. The policy mirrors safety precautions taken upon entrance to professional and collegiate sporting venues throughout the country. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/Clear.
 
DIAMOND CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the baseball program are encouraged to join the Diamond Club. Lion baseball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Diamond Club and S Club (baseball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern baseball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Lions Baseball, follow @LionUpBaseball or @MattRiser17 on Twitter, @LionUpBaseball on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.