HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana freshman
Jacob Burke's second three-run home run of the game capped a six-run ninth inning and a historic comeback for the Lion baseball team in a 15-13 elimination game victory over New Orleans on Friday afternoon at the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament presented by GeoSurfaces at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Southeastern (32-23) trailed by as many as nine runs in the game and battled its way back, scoring 12 runs over the final four frames. The Lions will now face McNeese in Friday's 7 p.m. semifinal to try to keep its championship hopes alive. UNO finished the season with a 29-28 overall mark.
The Lions trailed 13-9 heading into the ninth inning and were facing New Orleans All-Southland closer Caleb Seroski (4-4) who was working into his fourth inning and looking for his 11
th save of the season.
Seroski opened the ninth by hitting
Christian Garcia, putting the Lion outfielder on the base paths for the third time via a HBP. Pinch hitter
Matt Taylor then beat out an infield single, which Gabby Cruz followed with an RBI single to plate Garcia. Even Keller followed with a run-scoring single of his own to cut the lead to two with no outs.
Rhett Rosevear then bunted Keller and pinch runner Kenneth Bell into scoring position.
Tyler Finke then was retired on a ground out, but Bell scored from third to pull Southeastern within, 13-12, with two outs.
Lion first baseman
Preston Faulkner battled with Seroski and coaxed a walk after a nine-pitch at-bat to put runners at the corners. UNO then turned to Chris Turpin to come in out of the bullpen for the first time in 2021 and close out the game. After two balls well off the plate, Burke powered the 2-0 offering over the right centerfield fence to give SLU an improbable 15-13 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.
After tossing a perfect eighth, Lion reliever
Hunter O'Toole (1-0) gave way to SLU closer
Trey Shaffer. Shaffer sat down the Privateers in order to preserve one of the most dramatic comebacks in the history of Lion baseball.
SLU took the early lead as Burke pulled a 3-0 pitch over the left field fence to stake the Lions to a 3-0 lead after the top of the first inning. However, the bats for New Orleans, which defeated Northwestern State, 14-1, on Thursday, stayed hot, touching up Lion pitching for four home runs, including its fourth grand slam of the tournament, on the way to a 12-3 lead after five innings of play.
Southeastern kept hope alive with a four-run sixth, as Cruz doubled home a pair of runs, Keller singled home Cruz and Rosevear ripped a double down the left field line to pull the Lions within, 12-7. UNO got a run back in the bottom of the frame to extend its advantage to 13-7.
A two-run home run by Rosevear in the top of the eighth cut the Privateer lead to 13-9. O'Toole sat down the Privateers in order in the eighth to set the stage for the Lions' dramatic performance in the ninth.
The SLU-McNeese game will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard in the Hammond area on the flagship station of the Southeastern Sports Radio Network – KSLU 90.9 FM – in addition to online at
www.LionSports.net/ListenLive and via both the Lions Gameday Experience and TuneIn Radio apps.
Other options to follow the Lions during the tournament include live statistics or the @LionUpBaseball Twitter account. Links to audio, video and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at
www.LionSports.net.
2021 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament Presented by GeoSurfaces
Wednesday, May 26
Game 1 – No. 4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, No. 5 Sam Houston 3
Game 2 – No. 1 Abilene Christian 7. No. 8 Lamar 1
Game 3 – No. 7 McNeese 12, No. 2 New Orleans 0 (8 innings)
Game 4 – No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana 2, No. 6 Northwestern State 1
Thursday, May 27
Game 5 – Sam Houston 7, Lamar 4 (LU eliminated)
Game 6 – New Orleans 14, Northwestern State 1 (7 innings) (NSU eliminated)
Game 7 – Abilene Christian 4, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3
Game 8 – McNeese 3, Southeastern Louisiana 2
Friday, May 28
Game 9 – Sam Houston 14, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2 (7 innings) (AMCC eliminated)
Game 10 – Southeastern Louisiana 15, New Orleans 13 (UNO eliminated)
Game 11 – Abilene Christian vs.
Sam Houston, 4 p.m.
Game 12 – McNeese vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 29
Game 13 – Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11 (Only necessary if Game 9 winner wins Game 11)
Game 14 – Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12 (Only necessary if Game 10 winner wins Game 12)
Game 15 – Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 6 p.m.
If only one of the two early games is necessary on Saturday, it will be played at 1 p.m.
TOURNAMENT TICKET INFORMATION
General Admission booklets, allowing admission to every game of the tournament, are $100 for adults and $50 for youths ages 3-12. Students presenting a valid ID from a current Southland Conference institution, and children under the age of three, will be admitted free of charge.
For each day of the baseball tournament, any remaining tickets will be sold for the morning session (first two games) or afternoon session (last two games). The ballpark will be cleared between sessions and re-entry is not allowed.
Session ticket prices are: $21 (box seats, as available), $17 (chairback seats, as available), $13 (general admission adults) and $9 (general admission youth – ages 3-12).
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 4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Fridays. The ticket booth at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field opens exactly one hour prior to the scheduled first pitch.
MOBILE TICKETING
Southeastern implemented mobile ticketing as the primary method for securing tickets during the 2020-21 school year. Tickets will be available via text message or email in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
GAMEDAY PARKING
Single-day parking during the 2021 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, presented by GeoSurfaces, is $5 for most vehicles. An All-Tournament parking pass is available for $20 for standard vehicles and $50 for RVs.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics enforces a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. The policy mirrors safety precautions required for entrance to professional and collegiate sporting venues throughout the country. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit
www.LionSports.net/Clear.
SOCIAL DISTANCING ON GAMEDAYS
Southeastern, which is following state and local health guidelines for outdoor events set forth by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, has returned to 100 percent capacity at all athletic events. Fans are asked to maintain a comfortable distance from others when possible, wear a face-covering over both their nose and mouth, and wash their hands frequently. Hand sanitizing stations are located throughout Southeastern's athletic facilities.
LIONS GAMEDAY EXPERIENCE APP
The 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 or by following the link
www.LionSports.net/App.
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.
