Kinzeler fans 13 as Southeastern defeats Tulane

HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana freshman Will Kinzeler struck out a career-high 13 batters Wednesday as the Lions defeated Tulane, 6-1, in front of a sold-out crowd at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

The right-hander from Covington, Louisiana scattered three hits and one walk in 6.2 innings, allowing one unearned run to earn his first collegiate victory for Southeastern (4-4).

What started out as a pitchers’ duel ended up as domination by Kinzeler (1-1).

Tulane (3-5) starting pitcher Tyler Hoffman (0-1) retired the six batters and faced just one over the minimum through three innings. He fanned five consecutive batters over the course of the first and second, striking six of the first nine batters in the game.

Kinzeler worked around a pair of hits in the second, stranding a pair of runners on base while picking up strikeouts two and three of his outing. Fanning the final batter of the second, he kicked off a string of six-straight strikeouts and 14 consecutive batters retired.

While Kinzeler cruised through the Green Wave order, the Lions took advantage of Hoffman’s struggles in the fourth.

The right-hander walked Champ Artigues to open up the inning. After recording his seventh strikeout of the game, Hoffman hit Jacob Burke with a pitch and then issued back-to-back walks to Nick Ray and Christian Garcia. The walk to Garcia forced in Artigues with the first run of the game, forcing Tulane to dig into the bullpen.

Reliever Trent Johnson walked Eli Johnson to force in another run before senior catcher Gaby Cruz drove a single to left-center field, plating Ray and Garcia. Freshman designated hitter Rhett Rosevear drove in the final run of the inning with a drag bunt to first base. It is the eighth time this season the Lions have scored at least five runs in a single inning.

Tulane reached Kinzeler for an unearned run in the seventh, but reliever Noah Hughes slammed the door on anything more.

Southeastern added a run in the bottom of the inning on an Artigues sacrifice fly, the Lions’ nation-leading 10th of the season.

Hughes finished out the game to earn his first save of the season, striking out three batters in 2.1 scoreless innings of relief work. Hoffman suffered the loss, allowing four runs – all earned – in 3.1 innings pitched.

UP NEXT
Southeastern continues its eight-game homestand, hosting Troy in a non-conference series at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. Game times are scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.