No. 25-ranked Southern Miss defeats SLU, 8-1

HAMMOND, La. – The No. 25-ranked Southern Miss Golden Eagles defeated the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team, 8-1, Tuesday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

Southern Miss (11-5) jumped out in front in the first inning, holding off Southeastern (11-6) early before pulling away against the Lion bullpen.

Back-to-back hits led to a run with one out in the first and a solo home run by the designated hitter produced another run in the third.

The Lions cut the deficit in half in the fourth. Shea Thomas led off with a single to center field, advancing to third on Clay Cook’s one-out double inside the third-base bag. Thomas scored from third on TJ Salvaggio’s fielder’s choice grounder.

SLU starting pitcher Jay Long battled through five innings, handing a one-run game over to the bullpen in the sixth. The Golden Eagles broke the game open over the next two innings, scoring three runs each in the sixth and seventh.

Lakin Polk and Reid Reynolds closed out the game with a pair of scoreless innings, but by that time the damage had been done. Five Southeastern pitchers combined to walk 11 batters in the game.

Southern Miss starting pitcher Billy Oldham (2-0) earned the win, allowing one run in five innings pitched. He scattered four hits, two walks and one hit batter, striking out five. Long (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing two runs – both earned – in five innings of work. He surrendered six hits and four walks, striking out two.

UP NEXT
Southeastern hosts Memphis in a three-game series at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. Games are slated for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The series marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the diamond.

A host of promotions are on tap for the weekend series. All general admission tickets are $5 every Friday game this season. Fans can play the popular Baseball Bingo game Saturday. Free general admission tickets are available each Sunday home game for active military members, as well as veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, by presenting a valid service ID at the ticket booth.

TICKET & PARKING INFORMATION
General admission tickets for most games are $9 for adults and $6 for youth (ages 3-12). Southeastern students, with a university ID, and children under age 2 are admitted for free. Gameday parking is $5 per day for standard vehicles and $25 for RVs.

The Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office is currently accepting cash only. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Fridays. The ticket booth at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field will open two hours prior to the scheduled first pitch this week to accommodate fans.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Lions Baseball, follow @LionUpBaseball or @MattRiser17 on Twitter, @LionUpBaseball on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.

LINE SCORE
Southern Miss 8, Southeastern 1 (Mar 14, 2023 at Hammond, La.)
———————————————————————-
Southern Miss ……. 101 003 300 – 8 12 2 (11-5)
Southeastern ………. 000 100 000 – 1 4 1 (11-6)
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Pitchers: Southern Miss – Oldham, Billy; Sivley, Kros (6); Storm, Justin (9) and Johnson, Blake. Southeastern – Long, Jay; Walker, Jack (6); O’Toole, Hunter (6); Polk, Lakin (8); Reynolds, Reid (9) and Grizzaffi, Bryce.

Win-Oldham, Billy (2-0) Loss-Long, Jay (1-2) T-2:38 A-2147
HR USM – Wilks, Slade (4); Lynch, Danny (3); Robertson, Creek (1).
Weather: 58 Mostly Cloudy, NNE 5 mph