Southeastern grinds out series-opening 6-2 win over No. 25 UConn

HAMMOND, La. – In a pitching matchup of power-arm pro prospects, Southeastern Louisiana topped No. 25-ranked UConn by a 6-2 score Friday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

Senior right-hander Josh Green (1-0), considered one of the top draft prospects in the Southland Conference by several publications, pitched Southeastern (5-1) past the Huskies (2-2) and their potential first-round draft pick, Tim Cate (0-2).

“I thought we did a fantastic job tonight,” Southeastern head coach Matt Riser said. “Josh got in a little trouble early, but he made a nice play on the comebacker and settled in. Then our offense went to work. We kept the pressure on all night. We knew the left-hander was going to be good and we’d have to put together some good at-bats against him.”

Right fielder Mike Taylor continues to swing a hot bat for the Lions, driving in Brennan Breaud with a two-out double to left-center field in the first inning.

With a pair of walks in the inning, the Lions forced Cate to throw 30 pitches to get out of the first.

Green stranded a pair of runners in the first and retired the side in the second, fanning a pair. UConn touched him for a run to tie the game in the third.

Back-to-back one-out singles and a wild pitch put a pair of runners in scoring position. The Huskies tied the game on ground ball to third base that the Lions’ Taylor Schwaner failed to pick off the slick turf. Green bared down and retired the next two batters to end the threat.

Schwaner would atone for the error a couple innings later.

Southeastern got to Cate for another run in the fifth. With rain beginning to fall, the southpaw hit Scottie Sanders with a pitch to open up the inning. Sacrificed to second by Breaud, Sanders scored on Schwaner’s two-out single to right field.

The Lions expanded upon their lead in the sixth.

Reliever Colby Dunlop walked Drew Avans and Kyle Schimpf to begin the inning. After the pair were sacrificed into scoring position by left fielder Bryce Steckler, catcher Daniel Wasinger drove a two-run single up the middle through a drawn-in infield.

Green mowed down hitters into the eighth, retiring the side in order four times. After walking the leadoff hitter in the eighth and hitting the next with a pitch, Riser pulled the senior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in favor of reliever Will Warren.

With one out, Huskies cleanup hitter Zac Susi drove an RBI single to left to bring UConn within 4-2, but Warren fanned the next hitter and reliever Bryce Tassin picked up the final out of the inning to squelch the threat.

After a double-steal put a pair of runners in scoring position for the Lions in the eighth, UConn intentionally walked Steckler to face Wasinger. The senior catcher from El Paso, Texas, came through once again, pulling a single through the right side and driving in a pair.

Green earned the win, tossing a career-high seven innings and allowing two runs. He scattered four hits and one walk, fanning four. Tassin picked up his first save of the season, turning in 1.1 scoreless to seal the victory.

Cate was saddled with the loss, needing 110 pitches to get through five innings. He allowed two runs on four hits and a pair of walks. The junior southpaw fanned six.

Schwaner (2-for-4), Taylor (2-for-4) and Wasinger (2-for-4) led the Lions at the plate. Wasinger also tied a career high with four RBI.

“Sometimes you don’t have the greatest success, as far as hits, but I thought we did a fantastic job playing our style of baseball,” Riser said. “Get on base. Move’m over and get’em in.”

With more rain expected in the forecast, the Lions and UConn are now scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. The series finale will commence approximately 45 minutes following the completion of the first game of the doubleheader.

Junior right-hander Corey Gaconi (0-0, 4.15) gets the starting nod in the opening game of the doubleheader versus Huskie sophomore left-hander Mason Feole (1-0, 1.29). Lion junior righty Mason Knopp (0-0, 4.50) opposes UConn junior lefty Chase Gardner (0-0, 10.38) in the nightcap.

A doubleheader ticket will be sold for admission to Saturday’s contests. General Admission doubleheader tickets are $13 for adults and $9 for children (ages 3-12). Tax is included in the price of admission. Southeastern students are admitted free with a valid university ID card.

Students and campus organizations can earn points toward their Lion Up Loyalty account at any home game by checking in on the mobile app while in attendance.

Season ticket holders will be able to use either their Saturday or Sunday ticket for admission to the doubleheader. The stadium will not be cleared between games.

There is no local radio coverage scheduled for the two games. Fans can keep up with the day’s action through live statistics or by following @SLUathletics on Twitter. Streaming video is also available on LionVision, Southeastern’s subscription-based video stream.

Links for stats and video are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

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Southeastern 6, Connecticut 2
(Feb 23, 2018 at Hammond, La.)
———————————————————————-
Connecticut……… 001 000 010 – 2 5 0
Southeastern…….. 100 012 02X – 6 8 2
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Pitchers: Connecticut – Cate, Tim; Dunlop, Colby (6); Holmes, Trevor (7); Rivera, Joe (8) and Susi, Zac. Southeastern – Green, Josh; Warren, Will(8); Tassin, Bryce(8) and Wasinger, Daniel.

Win-Green, Josh (2-0) Save-Tassin, Bryc e(1) Loss-Cate, Tim (0-2) T-3:25 A-1296
Weather: Mostly Cloudy 72, SE 2 mph
Green, J. faced 2 batters in the 8th.