Southeastern bats batter UNO, 14-7

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team pounded University of New Orleans pitching on the way to a 14-7 win in Southland Conference action Saturday night at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

Southeastern (23-23, 5-12 SLC) has now split the first two games of the Pontchartrain Bowl with the Privateers (25-21, 10-7 SLC). It marks the first time in the nine-year history of the rivalry series that the teams have headed to the third and final game without the trophy winner already decided.

UNO jumped out in front first, as it had in the opening game of the series, with a solo home run in the first inning.

The Lions tied it up in the second. Shea Thomas drew a leadoff walk. Jake Haze and Conner O’Neal followed with back-to-back singles, loading the bases. Jude Hall plated Thomas, drawing a walk.

SLU took the lead for the first time in the game with a pair of runs in the third. Ryan Brome slapped a double past the third baseman to lead off the inning. TJ Salvaggio followed with an RBI single, driving in Brome.

Salvaggio advanced around to third on a pair of wild pitches by Privateer starting pitcher Grant Edwards and scored on Thomas’ sacrifice fly to right field. It was the 14th sacrifice fly of Thomas’ career, tying him for third on the SLU career charts with Brent Taylor (1986-89) and Daniel Midyett (2013-16). He is now one shy of tying record-holders Justin Boudreaux (2009-11) and Jameson Fisher (2013-14, 2016).

The Privateers tied the game up, 3-3, with a pair of runs in the fourth. Southeastern regained the lead, 4-3, in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run off the bat of Parker Coley. It was the eighth homer of the season for Coley and his fourth in the last eight days.

UNO regained the lead with a pair of runs in the fifth, forcing Lion starting pitcher Dakota Lee from the game.

Once again, Southeastern bounced back in the back in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for the third time in as many innings.

The Lions sent all nine batters to the plate in the fifth, pushing across five for the first time in the game. Salvaggio led off with a double just inside the left-field line, chasing Edwards from the game. Thomas greeted reliever Caleb Seroski with a single to right. Jake Haze dragged a sac bunt up the first-base line to bring in Salvaggio.

With two outs, Jude Hall launched a two-run homer to deep right-center. It was his fifth homer of the season. A single by Coley chased Seroski from the game. Cole Stromboe greeted reliever Jack Williams with an RBI double to right-center, scoring Coley, and Rhett Rosevear plated Stromboe with an RBI single to right.

Southeastern added five more runs in the eighth, highlighted by run-scoring hits from Haze, Conner O’Neal and Hall.

A run in the ninth by the Privateers capped off the scoring.

Larson Fabre (2-1) earned the win, recording a pair of outs without allowing a run. Jackson Rodriguez worked the final four innings to earn his fifth save of the season. Seroski (4-2) suffered the loss, allowing three runs – all earned – in 0.2 innings of relief work.

SLU pounded out 16 hits in the game. Every Lion batter in the starting lineup picked up a hit and eight of the nine recorded a pair of hits each.

UP NEXT
The series wraps up at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN+ with a pitching matchup featuring junior right-hander right-hander Aiden Vosburg (1-3, 6.02) for SLU and junior right-hander Cortez Dennis (2-2, 5.96) for the Privateers.

Sunday is Military Appreciation Day. Free general admission tickets are available Sunday for active military members by presenting a valid service ID at the gate.

Fans can listen to the game broadcast in the Hammond area on 90.9 The Lion. In addition, an audio stream is available online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive and via the Lions Gameday Experience, TuneIn and MyTuner Radio apps. Both the TuneIn and MyTuner apps are compatible with the Apple CarPlay software available in most late-model automobiles. Search for KSLU 90.9 FM in the TuneIn app.

TICKET & PARKING INFORMATION
Single-game tickets are now on sale. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance to minimize ticket lines on game days. Southeastern students are encouraged to contact the ticket office before the game to reserve theirs in advance.

General admission tickets for most games are $11 for adults and $8 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.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets or by contacting the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466. 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 opens exactly one hour before the scheduled first pitch.

Southeastern uses mobile ticketing as the primary method for distributing tickets purchased online. Tickets will be available via text message or email in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.

CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics enforces a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. The policy mirrors the safety precautions required for entrance to professional and collegiate sporting venues throughout the country. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/Clear.

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
Fans are encouraged to follow the Southeastern Baseball social media accounts (@LionUpBaseball) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay engaged with the program.

The latest updates are also available at www.LionSports.net and the Lions Gameday Experience app. Available for both Android and iOS devices, the Gameday app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.

LINE SCORE
Southeastern 14, New Orleans 7 (May 04, 2024 at Hammond, LA)
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New Orleans ……… 100 220 011 – 7 8 1 (25-21, 10-7 SLC)
Southeastern…….. 012 150 05X – 14 17 1 (23-23, 5-12 SLC)
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Pitchers: New Orleans – Edwards, Grant; Seroski, Caleb (5); Williams, Jack (5); Blasick, Nathan (6); Byers, Brooks (8) and Useche, Miguel. Southeastern – Lee, Dakota; Fabre, Larson (5); Rodriguez, Jackson (6) and O’Neal, Conner.

Win-Fabre, Larson (2-1) Save-Rodriguez, Jackson (5) Loss-Seroski, Caleb (4-2) T-2:47 A-1485
HR UNO – Villescas, Diego (6); Williams, Issac (7).
HR SLU – Hall, Jude (5); Coley, Parker (8).
Weather: 82 Mostly Cloudy, SSE 7 mph
G. Edwards faced 1 batter in the 5th.
Fabre, L. faced 1 batter in the 6th.