Missed opportunities prove costly as SLU fall at No. 19-ranked Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. – Southeastern Louisiana left 14 runners on base Saturday, falling to No. 19-ranked Arizona, 4-3, at Hi Corbett Field.

The Lions (3-3) have dropped the first three games at Arizona (5-2) in vastly different ways. Saturday, Southeastern scored in the first inning and maintained the lead until the bottom of the seventh inning.

Evan Keller drew a walk to open the game before being wiped out on a fielder’s choice off the bat of second baseman Champ Artigues. Preston Faulkner followed with a single, one of his three hits in the game. Jacob Burke drew a two-out walk to load the bases and then Wildcat starting pitcher Garrett Irvin walked Christian Garcia to force in a run.

Southeastern left the bases loaded in the first, stranding a runner in both the second and third innings as well.

Breaking through in the fourth, the Lions added to their lead off reliever Austin Smith.

Joe Delaney led off the inning with a single, advancing to second on a passed ball. Designated hitter Gaby Cruz drew a walk and Bryce Grizzaffi sacrificed both runners into scoring position. After Smith intentionally walked Keller, the Wildcats brought in left-hander Ian Churchill to face Artigues.

The Lions attempted a safety squeeze and Delaney appeared to beat Churchill’s throw to the plate. With no instant replay available for the series, he was ultimately called out by home plate umpire Jason Kaminsky.

With the bases still loaded, Faulkner laced a single up the middle to drive home both Cruz and Keller.

Southeastern would eventually leave two runners on in the fourth, load the bases in the fifth with no outs and wind up stranding all three runners, and leave two more on in the sixth after a pair of Arizona errors.

Will Warren, the Lions’ starting pitcher, struggled with his control, but gutted out six scoreless innings. In a grinding game, neither team was retired in order once during the entire contest.

The Wildcats finally broke through in the seventh against the Southeastern bullpen. Left-hander Brock Batty sandwiched a pair of walks around a single before yielding to freshman Kyle Bartley (0-1). The right-hander surrendered a two-run double as well as an RBI single and an RBI double before working out of the inning.

Southeastern stranded a runner in both the eighth and ninth, unable to push across the tying run.

Trevor Long (1-0) earned the win for Arizona, striking out three batters in 1.1 scoreless innings of relief. Quinn Flanagan closed it out with a pair of scoreless frames, striking out four on the way to earning his first save of the season.

Bartley suffered the loss, allowing one run in two innings of work.

UP NEXT
The series concludes with a final game Sunday at 11 a.m. (CST). Southeastern sophomore righty Grant Upton (1-0, 0.00) gets the starting nod Sunday in the series finale, opposing Wildcat freshman right-hander TJ Nichols (1-0, 3.60).

Sunday’s game can be heard in the Hammond area on the flagship station of the Southeastern Sports Radio Network – KSLU 90.9 FM – in addition to online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive and via both the Lions Gameday Experience and TuneIn Radio apps.

A video stream will be broadcast through the Pac-12 Network Plus and the Pac-12 Now app, available for iOS and Android mobile devices as well as Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Chromecast.

Other options to follow the action this weekend include live statistics or the @LionUpBaseball Twitter account. Links to audio, video and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.