HAMMOND, La. – Winners of back-to-back Southland Conference regular-season titles, the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team's season continues as the No. 1-seeded team in the Southland Baseball Championship and host of this week's Hammond Bracket presented by North Oaks Health.
 
Top-seeded Southeastern (31-19, 19-9 SLC) welcomes No. 4-seeded Nicholls (25-24, 15-13 SLC), No. 5-seeded McNeese (28-23, 16-14 SLC) and No. 8-seeded Houston Christian (21-29, 13-17 SLC) to Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
 
Nicholls and McNeese will open bracket play at 1 p.m. Thursday, while the Lions will face HCU at 6 p.m. Thursday.
 
All games in the Hammond Bracket, which runs through Sunday, will air on ESPN+. The winner of the Hammond bracket meets the winner of the Beaumont bracket in the best-of-three championship series, May 21-23, at the highest remaining seed.
 
Fans can listen to all the Southeastern baseball action in the tournament locally on KSLU 90.9 The Lion or worldwide online at either www.LionSports.net/listenlive or www.LionUpRadio.org, via the following apps – Lions Gameday Experience, Live365, iHeart, Audacy, TuneIn and MyTuner Radio - or on Alexa speakers (skill must be enabled first). All you have to say is, "Alexa, play K.S.L.U."
 
Southland Coach of the Year Bobby Barbier's squad owns the conference's top run-producing offense (7.3 runs/game) and leads the circuit with 82 home runs, five shy of setting the program's single-season record.
 
Led by Southland Hitter of the Year Peyton Woods (.352-5-22), along with All-Conference selections Alex Perry (.266-15-47) and Ben Robichaux (.294-11-37), SLU is hitting .281 collectively.
 
All-Conference pitchers Nik Toups (5-1, 4.18) and Blake Lobell (4-1, 4.88) lead a staff that ranks fourth in the league with 5.07 ERA.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics enforces a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. The policy mirrors the 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.
 
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 the 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 on both Android and iOS, the Gameday app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
 
2026 SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
HAMMOND BRACKET PRESENTED BY NORTH OAKS HEALTH
 
Thursday, May 14
Game 1 – No. 4 Nicholls vs. No. 5 McNeese, 1 p.m.
Game 2 – No. 1 Southeastern vs. No. 8 Houston Christian, 6 p.m.
 
Friday, May 15
Game 3 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 1 p.m. (Elimination game)
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 6 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 16
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 1 p.m. (Elimination game)
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 6 p.m.
 
Sunday, May 17
Game 7 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser. 1 p.m.*
 
* - Game 7 is only necessary if Game 5 winner also wins Game 6