Baseball: March 4 Scoreboard
Southeastern La. 11. Southern 3
La.-Lafayette 8, Northwestern State 2
Southeastern La. 11. Southern 3
HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana exploded for five runs in the second inning Wednesday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field, breaking open the game en route to an 11-3 win over Southern.
Southeastern (10-4) picked up its fifth-straight win, sweeping through a season-high five game homestand.
After the Lions scored a run in the bottom of the first inning, Southern (1-6) answered on the first pitch of the second. Jaguar right fielder D.J. Wallace turned on the initial offering from Southeastern starting pitcher Pat Cashman (1-2), yanking it out of the park to left field for his first home run of the season.
The Lions sent nine to the plate in the second, pushing across the five runs on just three hits.
Chris Eades, back in the starting lineup for the first time since opening weekend, drew a one-out walk to start the rally. Brooks Morse followed with a single through the left side. With two outs, Jacob Seward singled up the middle to drive in Eades from second.
Julian Service and Carson Crites drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and then force in a run. Kevin Carr then cleared the bases with a double to left-center.
Southeastern added three more runs, on just one hit, in the third. Following a pair of walks by Eades and Morse, Kennon Menard singled to load the bases. Seward was hit by a pitch, forcing in Eades. Service reached on a throwing error by the second baseman as both Morse and Menard scored.
Southern scored a pair of unearned runs in the fourth, but the Lions added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to complete the scoring.
Cashman earned the win after fanning nine batters, without issuing a walk, in five innings of work. He allowed three runs, just one earned, on seven hits. Jacob Wallace (0-2), the second of nine pitchers used by the Jaguars, suffered the loss.
The Lions got shutout relief pitching from Scott Szush, John Gremillion, Drew Avans and Mac Sceroler. Each worked an inning, with Szush and Gremillion each fanning three. Southeastern fanned 18 batters in the game, one shy of tying the school single-game record.
Carr turned in the best night offensively, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and three RBIs.
Southeastern travels to Incarnate Word, opening up Southland Conference play Friday in San Antonio, Texas.
– Return to top –
La.-Lafayette 8, Northwestern State 2
LAFAYETTE, La. – When Northwestern State faced UL Lafayette in February, a four-run first inning was the Demons’ undoing.
In the rematch Wednesday night, it was a five-run fifth inning that hurt the Demons and sent the Cajuns to an 8-2 victory at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field, ending Northwestern State’s season-long, four-game win streak.
Leading 2-1, the Cajuns (7-5) loaded the bases with no outs before Brandon Stane induced a 5-2-3 double play to record the first two outs.
Nick Thurman, who went 3-for-5, followed the double play with an RBI single to left field before Joe Robbins reached on an error that scored two runs. Dylan Butler capped the inning with a two-run double to the left-center field gap.
The Demons (6-7) took their first lead of the season series against the Cajuns in the second inning. Chase Daughdrill extended his season-opening streak of reaching base to 13 games with a leadoff triple that a diving Butler could not handle in right field. It marked the second straight game with a triple for Daughdrill, who hit just one triple in his junior season.
Two pitches later, C.J. Webster lined a single to right-center field to score Daughdrill with Webster’s team-leading ninth RBI of the season. However, Cajuns starter Connor Toups (1-0) did not allow another base runner in the inning, keeping the Demons’ lead at 1-0.
The Cajuns answered NSU’s run with one of their own in the second inning on a Butler sacrifice fly. Butler’s RBI ended Northwestern State’s scoreless innings streak at 25 2-3 innings, dating to the second game of the Feb. 28 doubleheader against Sacred Heart at Brown-Stroud Field.
UL Lafayette then took the lead for good with a run in the third off Jordan Shaffer (0-1).
Jam Williams led off the third with a walk before stealing second and third base. Williams scored on a sacrifice fly by Blake Trahan.
The Demons tacked on their final run in the ninth when Caleb Dugas drew a walk off Reagan Bazar and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Cort Brinson followed with an RBI single to right-center field to provide the final margin.
The Demons return to action on Friday when they start Southland Conference play at Lamar. First pitch for Friday’s series opener is set for 6 p.m.
– Return to top –