No. 2 Southeastern escapes elimination in 12-4 win over No. 6 HBU

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HAMMOND, La. – An offensive explosion kept No. 2 Southeastern alive in Friday’s elimination game of the 2022 Southland Baseball Tournament with a 12-4 win over No. 6 HBU at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. The Lions’ top of the lineup combined to hit 7-of-13 (.538) with four home runs, eight RBI and eight runs scored.

The Lions drew first blood in the top of the second, which began with an RBI double to right-center field from Christian Garcia. SLU continued in the top of the third and fourth innings, scoring a pair of runs off a wild pitch and an RBI single up the middle to take a 3-0 lead into the middle of the fourth frame.

HBU got on the board in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI single to right field from Jake Miller brought Tyler LaRue home. However, SLU’s offensive outburst continued in the top of the fifth with a two-run homerun from Rhett Rosevear to pull ahead 5-1. HBU’s Brennen Bales responded with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the sixth to cut into the Lion lead.

In the top of the seventh, the Lions exploded for four runs, beginning with an RBI single through the left side from Keller. Rosevear nabbed his second homer of the day with a two-run blast over the right-field wall. Preston Faulkner followed it up with a solo shot over the left field wall to give SLU a 9-2 lead.

The Huskies late rally began with a two-run shot over the wall in center to cut the lead to 9-4 in the bottom of the eighth but would not be enough as the Lions offense proved too much.

Adam Guth (4-1) struck out seven through seven innings with three runs to his name to earn the win. Jared Burch suffered the loss after allowing five runs on four hits despite striking out seven over six innings.

Rosevear was 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs, four RBIs and scored twice, and Preston Faulkner was 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs for the Lions (25-28). Keller was 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and scored four times, while Garcia was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Southeastern will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (27-27) at 1 p.m. Saturday in another elimination game at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. The winner advances to the championship game against No. 3-seeded New Orleans (30-21) at 6 p.m. If the winner of the day’s first game wins both contests, the “if necessary” game will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday.

HAMMOND BRACKET SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Game 1 (1 p.m.) – No. 3 New Orleans 10, No. 6 HBU 3
Game 2 (6 p.m.) – No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 6, No. 2 Southeastern 5

Friday, May 20, 2022
Game 3 (1 p.m.) – No. 2 Southeastern 12, N. 6 HBU 4
Game 4 (6 p.m.) – No. 3 New Orleans 10, No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 9

Saturday, May 21, 2022
Game 5 (1 p.m.) – No. 2 Southeastern vs. No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (ESPN+)
Game 6 (6 p.m.) – No. 3 New Orleans vs. Game 5 Winner (ESPN+)

Sunday, May 22, 2022
Game 7* (1 p.m.) – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (ESPN+)

* IF NECESSARY