SUGAR LAND, Texas – No. 3-seed Southeastern Louisiana squares off against No. 6-seeded Stephen F. Austin at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Constellation Field, opening up the 2019 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament.
 
Southeastern's half of the bracket also includes No. 2-seeded Central Arkansas (29-25, 19-11 Southland) and No. 7-seeded Northwestern State (30-23, 15-15 Southland). The other side of the bracket contains No. 1-seeded Sam Houston State (31-23, 20-10 Southland), No. 4-seeded Incarnate Word (35-20, 18-12 Southland), No. 5-seeded McNeese (31-24, 16-14 Southland) and No. 8-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (30-24, 14-16 Southland).
 
The double-elimination tournament, scheduled for May 22-25, features the league's top eight teams and concludes with a winner-take-all championship game Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. The winner of the tournament receives the Southland's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Every tournament game will be streamed live on ESPN+, www.ESPN.com/watch and the ESPN app.
 
All of Southeastern's games in the tournament can be heard in the Hammond, Louisiana, area on the flagship station of the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, KSLU 90.9 FM, online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive and via both the Lions Gameday Experience and TuneIn Radio apps.
 
Fans can also keep up with all the action through live statistics or by following @SLUathletics on Twitter. Web links to audio, video and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
 
Southeastern (30-25, 19-11 Southland) won 2-of-3 games at UIW this past weekend, finishing the regular season one-game back of conference-leader Sam Houston State.
 
The Lions are hitting .250 collectively, with 77 doubles, 15 triples, 44 home runs and 80 stolen bases. Southeastern's pitching staff has worked to a combined 4.78 ERA, striking out 451 batters in 488 innings. Opponents are hitting .263 off Lion pitching.
 
All-Conference performer Kyle Schimpf (.293), Preston Faulkner (.284), Cody Grosse (.267) and Nathan Pilutti (.263) key Southeastern's approach at the plate. Faulkner has swatted a team-high 11 home runs and is tied with Schimpf for the team lead in RBI (46). Grosse is second in the Southland with 23 stolen bases.
 
Wednesday's tournament opener kicks off a day that should feature several premium pitching matchups. Southeastern will do its part, starting Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year Corey Gaconi (7-2, 2.32) against the Lumberjacks' first team All-Conference hurler Alex Palmer (6-6, 2.48). The pair faced each other March 29 in Nacogdoches, Texas, with Gaconi earning the win in the Lions' 5-1 series-opening victory.
 
Jared Martin (.280), Brandon Uhse (.279) and Antonio Lima (.245) are SFA's top hitters. Manny Vasquez and Josh Campbell lead the Lumberjacks with five home runs. Sean Moore owns a team-high 25 RBIs and Nick Daley's 15 stolen bases are tops on the squad.
 
The Lumberjacks (24-31, 16-14 Southland) are hitting .222 as a team with 60 doubles, seven triples, 17 home runs and 52 stolen bases. SFA pitchers have combined for a 5.02 ERA, striking out 408 batters in 482.1 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .274 this season off Lumberjack pitching.
 
SFA wrapped up the regular season taking 2-of-3 games against New Orleans.
 
The winner advances to face the winner of the Central Arkansas/Northwestern State matchup Thursday at 4 p.m. The losers of those two matchups square off Thursday at 9 a.m. in an elimination game.
 
TOURNAMENT TICKETS
Tickets for the 2019 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament are on sale through the TDECU Ticket Office at Constellation Field (1 Stadium Drive, Sugar Land, Texas, 77498), by phone at (281) 240-4487 or online at www.southland.org/baseball.
 
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.
 
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.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
9 a.m. - Game 1 - No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 6 Stephen F. Austin
12 p.m. - Game 2 - No. 2 Central Arkansas vs. No. 7 Northwestern State
4 p.m. - Game 3 - No. 1 Sam Houston State vs. No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
7 p.m. - Game 4 - No. 4 Incarnate Word vs. No. 5 McNeese
 
Thursday, May 23, 2019
9 a.m. - Game 5 - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
12 p.m. - Game 6 - Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser
4 p.m. - Game 7 - Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
7 p.m. - Game 8 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
 
Friday, May 24, 2019
9 a.m. - Game 9 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser
12 p.m. - Game 10 - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser
4 p.m. - Game 11 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner
7 p.m. - Game 12 - Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner
 
Saturday, May 25, 2019
9 a.m. - Game 13 - Game 11 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser * #
1 p.m. - Game 14 - Game 12 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser ^ #
6 p.m. - Championship - Game 11/13 Winner vs. Game 12/14 Winner
 
* 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.