Southeastern edges Nicholls to maintain tie for first in Southland

THIBODAUX, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team held Thursday evening on for a 3-2 Southland Conference victory over Nicholls at Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field, maintaining a share of first place in the conference standings.

With the win, Southeastern (23-26, 13-9 SLC) kept pace with co-leader McNeese (28-21, 13-9 SLC) which won 23-5 at Houston Baptist.

The Lions took the lead in the third inning with a two-out single to center field off the bat of Rhett Rosevear, driving in Bryce Grizzaffi from second base.

SLU extended its lead to 2-0 in the sixth. Preston Faulkner plated Rosevear from second with an RBI single to right.

Nicholls (24-21, 11-11 SLC) responded with a run in the bottom of the inning, cutting the Lions’ lead in half.

Tristan Welch provided an insurance run in the seventh with a solo home run. It was the ninth homer of the season for the senior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Colonels scratched across a run in eighth, pulling back within a run.

Gage Trahan worked a scoreless ninth, picking up his ninth save of the season. The total ranks second in the Southland. It also ties Stefan Lopez (2011) for fifth on the Lions’ single-season chart and Kade Granier (2015-19) for ninth on the program’s career chart.

Will Kinzeler (4-1) earned the win, allowing one run in six innings of work. He scattered five hits and three walks, striking out three batters. Devin Desandro (3-4) suffered the loss, allowing three runs in 6.1 innings pitched.

Dalton Aspholm fanned five batters in two innings of relief work, bridging the gap between Kinzeler and Trahan.

UP NEXT
The series continues Friday at 6 p.m. SLU is slated to start freshman left-hander Adam Guth (3-1, 5.24) on the mound and Nicholls will counter with junior left-hander Tyler Theriot (7-3, 2.88).

Fans in the Hammond area can listen to game broadcasts 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 the Lions Gameday Experience, Mixlr and MyTuner Radio apps. The MyTuner app is compatible with the Apple CarPlay software available in most late model automobiles. Fans should search for SLU Athletics (Mixlr) or Southeastern Sports Radio Network (MyTuner).

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
Southeastern 3, Nicholls 2 (May 12, 2022 at Thibodaux, La.)
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Southeastern ….. 001 001 100 – 3 4 0 (23-26, 13-9 SLC)
Nicholls ………… 000 001 010 – 2 8 0 (24-21, 11-11 SLC)
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Pitchers: Southeastern – Kinzeler, Will; Aspholm, Dalton (7); Trahan, Gage (9) and Grizzaffi, Bryce. Nicholls – Desandro, Devin; Heckman, Nick (7); Andrews, Brandon (8); Hill, Nick (8); Barbier, Luke (8); Galy, Gavin (9) and Collura, Jaden.

Win-Kinzeler, Will (4-1) Save-Trahan, Gage (9) Loss-Desandro, Devin (3-4) T-2:56 A-588
HR SLU – Welch, Tristan (9).
Weather: 85, Partly Cloudy, SW 4mph
Andrews, B. faced 2 batters in the 8th.