No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana Tops No. 7 New Orleans
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SUGAR LAND, Texas – No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana used two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to take a one-run victory over No. 7 New Orleans, 5-4, at Constellation Field in the 2016 Southland Conference Tournament.
Relief Pitcher of the Year, Kade Granier, from Southeastern earned his fifth win of the season as his offense scored five runs off of three hits.
New Orleans took an early lead on a fielder’s choice with one out as junior second baseman Samuel Capielano scored in the top of the first inning.
In the third inning, UNO senior third baseman Preston Marsh singled up the left side to score sophomore right fielder Jay Robinson from second base extending its lead, 2-0.
Southeastern loaded the bases in the third inning with junior second baseman Carson Crites at the plate. Crites knocked a sacrifice fly to left field to score freshman shortstop Breaud Brennan to cut the Privateer’s lead in half, 2-1.
The Lions took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning scoring two runs off of two hits and one error. Junior center fielder Jacob Seward singled through the left side, advancing junior right fielder Ryan Byers to third base. The play continued as Byers scored on a throwing error to tie the game at two. Seward scored on a ground out to give the Lions a 3-1 lead.
Back-to-back triples for the Privateers in the top of the fifth inning from junior first baseman Dakota Dean and Robinson allowed UNO to reclaim the lead, 4-3, before Southeastern was able to retire the side.
The Lion’s Seward scored in the bottom of the ninth inning on a fielder’s choice to tie ball game at 4-4 with one out. Junior first baseman Jameson Fisher picked up a sacrifice fly to score junior third baseman Derrick Mount.
Southeastern advances to take on No. 6 McNeese Thursday at 4 p.m. while New Orleans will face No. 3 Northwestern State at 9 a.m.
Southeastern Louisiana Head Coach Matt Riser
Overview of the game
“We didn’t put a lot of pressure on them offensively, but at the end of the day we got the job done. In the last inning when we played the way we’re supposed to play, we played fast, they made some mistakes and when you do that you score some runs. They’re a resilient bunch. We had a few situations that didn’t go our way. I thought we made some big pitches in some big situations too. For those guys to keep us in the ball games was huge.”
Heading into the ninth inning
“I told the team to put the ball on the ground. We had too many flyouts and too many easy outs. (Jameson) Fisher actually crushes one to right field that got held up in the wind and that was a tell for us to put the ball on the ground.”
New Orleans Head Coach Blake Dean
On ninth inning errors
“At the end of the day we played a great ball game up until the ninth. We gave ourselves a chance to win but with a team like Southeastern, when you walk people and make four errors you’ll never win a ball game.”
Leaving runners on
“We had plenty opportunities to score, but we couldn’t get a runner in from third and we missed a sign. Things like that at this point of the season are unacceptable and why we can’t win a ball game like that.”
Riley Hodge’s outing
“I think in all honesty it was probably Riley’s best start of the season but the runs that were scored were due to falling behind and not getting guys out when we needed to. When you give them chances, they’re going to capitalize.”