GREENVILLE, N.C. – Shea Thomas and Justin Williams both homered while Brennan Stuprich and Jackson Rodriguez combined to shut down the Cal State Fullerton bats sparking the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball program to a 5-1 victory over the Titans in the opening game of the 21^st annual Keith LeClair Classic at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
 
The Lions (7-3) extended their winning streak to five games, defeating Cal State Fullerton (4-4) in the first-ever meeting between to two programs.
 
Stuprich worked out of trouble in the first couple of innings. The redshirt junior from Kenner, Louisiana struck out batters to end both the first and second innings, stranding a runner in scoring position both times.
 
Williams led off the Southeastern half of the second with a line drive over the center-field wall, hitting his second home run of the season.
 
A hit batter with two outs in the fourth broke up a string of eight consecutive batters retired by Stuprich. A single by the second baseman Eli Lopez followed before Stuprich worked out of the inning without allowing a run, starting a string of 10 consecutive batters retired before exiting the game.
 
Williams led off the fourth with a double of the base of the wall in right-center, but the Lions were unable to bring him home.
 
With Southeastern leading, 1-0, Jude Hall led off the fifth inning with a single. He was still there with two outs. Making sure SLU would not waste a leadoff hit for the second time in as many innings, Thomas deposited a pitch from Titan starting pitcher Christian Rodriguez over the wall in left-center for his third homer of the season.
 
Right fielder Parke Coley worked a walk following Thomas' home run, stealing second base to reach scoring position. Williams chased Rodriguez from the game, pulling an RBI single through the left side to drive in Coley and stake the Lions to a 4-0 lead.
 
After retiring the first five batters he faced, Titan reliever Andrew Morones walked Ryan Brome. Thomas followed with a double off the left-field wall, scoring Brome all the way from first.
 
Cal State Fullerton broke up the Lions' shutout bid in the eighth. With two outs, center fielder Moises Guzman pulled a ball down the left-field line off reliever Jackson Rodriguez. Christian Garcia appeared to have a chance at catching the ball. Arriving at the wall at the same time as the ball, it bounced off his glove as he made contact with the wall.
 
Stuprich (1-1) earned the win, tossing seven shutout innings. He scattered three hits and one walk, striking out five batters. Rodriguez (1-2) suffered the loss for Cal State Fullerton. He allowed four runs – all earned in 4.2 innings pitched.
 
Thomas and Williams both went 3-for-3 at the plate with a single, double, homer and walk. Thomas drove in three and Williams plated a pair.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions return to action at noon CT Saturday against Purdue (6-3) in the Keith LeClair Classic. The pitching matchup features redshirt junior right-hander Dakota Lee (0-0, 1.86) for SLU and senior left-hander Luke Wagner (1-0, 6.75) for the Boilermakers.
 
Saturday's contest has been pushed back from its originally scheduled time to accommodate rainy weather earlier in the day. 
 
Fans can listen to the game broadcast in the Hammond area on 90.9 The Lion. In addition, an audio stream is available online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive and via the Lions Gameday Experience, TuneIn and MyTuner Radio apps. Both the TuneIn and MyTuner apps are compatible with the Apple CarPlay software available in most late-model automobiles. Search for KSLU 90.9 FM in the TuneIn app.
 
Purdue fell, 7-1, Friday afternoon to No. 11-ranked East Carolina on the opening day of the Keith LeClair Classic.
 
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 by visiting www.LionUp.com.
  
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Southeastern Baseball social media accounts (@LionUpBaseball) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay engaged with the program.
 
The latest updates are also available at www.LionSports.net and the Lions Gameday Experience app. Available for both Android and iOS devices, the Gameday app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.