Finke ties SLU career stolen base record in win at Alabama A&M

NORMAL, Ala. – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team scored early and often on its way to a 14-0 win over Alabama A&M in eight innings Wednesday at Bulldog Field and Tyler Finke swiped the 71st bag of his career, tying the program’s career record.

Melvin Meyers established the Lions’ previous stolen base standard from 1985-88. Finke needed just 2.5 seasons to tie the mark.

With the win over Alabama A&M (7-5), Southeastern improves to 9-4 ahead of a weekend series at No. 20-ranked Auburn.

Shea Thomas got the offense going in the first inning with a run-scoring double to center field, driving in both Champ Artigues and Jake Killingsworth.

The Lions doubled their lead in the second when Bryce Grizzaffi scored on an RBI groundout by Artigues and Rhett Rosevear scored on a wild pitch.

A bases-loaded walk to shortstop TJ Salvaggio added another run in the third.

Two more runs each in the sixth and seventh put SLU up, 9-0, in the game.

Finke led off the eighth with a single through the right side of the infield before stealing second base, tying the program record. A pair of wild pitches later, he scored.

Southeastern turned the lineup over in the eighth on the way to scoring five runs for the final margin of victory.

Redshirt junior Jay Long (1-1) logged five shutout innings to earn the win in his third start of the season. The left-hander from Stilwell, Kansas allowed just one hit and walked three batters, striking out five.

Connor Spencer (1.0 IP), Levi Bennet (1.0 IP), Adam Guth (0.2 IP) and Lakin Pol (0.1 IP) combined to finish out the Lions’ third shutout of the season, a total that ranks second nationally.

Bulldog starting pitcher Jason Garcia (1-1), the first of six pitchers for Alabama A&M, suffered the loss. The southpaw allowed five runs – three earned – in 2.2 innings of work.

Thomas (3-for-4) led the way offensively, driving in three runs. Killingsworth (2-for-3) joined him in the multiple hits club. Six more Lions contributed one hit apiece.

Artigues, Joe Delaney, Grizzaffi, Killingsworth and Rosevear scored a pair of runs each.

UP NEXT
Southeastern wraps up its road trip this coming weekend at No. 20-ranked Auburn (10-1-1). Games are scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The final two games of the series are slated to be streamed on SEC Network+.

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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
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LINE SCORE
Southeastern 14, Alabama A&M 0 (Mar 08, 2023 at Normal, Ala.)
———————————————————————-
Southeastern …………. 221 002 25 – 14 11 1 (9-4)
Alabama A&M ……… 000 000 00 – 0 2 3 (7-5)
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Pitchers: Southeastern – Long, Jay; Spencer, Connor (6); Bennett, Levi (7); Guth, Adam (8);
Polk, Lakin (8) and Grizzaffi, Bryce; Curry, Michael. Alabama A&M – Jason Garcia; Gabe Nicholson (3); Campbell, Tyler (6); Sales, Terence (7); Stokes, Kobe (8); Parker, Brett (8) and Tribett, Jared; Soto, Christian.

Win-Long, Jay (1-1) Loss-Garcia, Jason (1-1) T-2:52 A-200
Weather: 62 Partly Cloudy, ESE 10 mph
Nicholson faced 2 batters in the 6th.