Southeastern loses lead late in series opener at Central Arkansas, 7-6

CONWAY, Ark. – Central Arkansas rallied for five runs over the last three innings Friday, pulling off a 7-6 comeback victory over Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference play at Bear Stadium.

Southeastern (32-19, 19-9 Southland) remains in second place in the conference standings, 1.5 games behind Southland leader Sam Houston State. Third-place Central Arkansas (31-18, 17-8 Southland) pulled within one-half game of the Lions.

The Bears scored a pair of unearned in the first inning, carrying a 2-0 lead into the fourth.

Drew Avans drew a walk to lead off the fourth, advancing to second on Kyle Schimpf’s single to right-center field. Taylor Schwaner sacrificed both runners into scoring position, reaching to load the bases when Central Arkansas pitcher Tanner Wiley bobbled the ball.

Mike Taylor, a junior from Tampa, Florida, delivered an RBI single through the right side to put the Lions on the scoreboard and catcher Daniel Wasinger plated the tying run with a sacrifice fly to center.

Southeastern took a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Cody Grosse tripled off the wall in right field, scoring on Nathan Pilutti’s single to left-center.

Three more runs in the sixth expanded the lead to 6-2, but the Bear offense came out of hibernation.

Central Arkansas scratched across a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning off Lion starting pitcher Josh Green.

Hunter Strong, the Bears’ leading hitter, led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a single by Josh Somdecerff. Strong scored on a groundout that allowed Somdecerff to advance to second. After a passed ball, Somdecerff scored on a sacrifice fly.

The Bears tied the game with two runs off reliever Peyton Lee in the seventh. He walked the leadoff batter in the eighth before yielding to Jared Biddy.

A sacrifice bunt advanced the runner into scoring position. Biddy struck out pinch-hitter Justin MacCarty for the second out, but Bears’ catcher William Hancock dropped a single down the left-field line to score the go-ahead run. A strong throw from Avans nabbed Hancock at second attempting to stretch his hit into a double.

Reliever Conner Williams (2-0) earned the win for Central Arkansas, closing out the game with a pair of scoreless innings. Lee (2-1) suffered the loss, giving up three runs in his one inning of work.

Avans (3-for-4), Brennan Breaud (2-for-4), Grosse (2-for-4), Pilutti (2-for-5) and Taylor (2-for-4) each turned in multi-hit performances for the Lions.

The series continues Saturday at 4 p.m. Southeastern will send redshirt junior right-hander Carlisle Koestler (7-1, 2.51), who leads the Southland in wins, to the mound. Central Arkansas altered its weekend rotation and has yet to announce a starting pitcher for the middle game of the series.

The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, and worldwide online or through either the Radio FX or TuneIn apps. Fans can also keep up with all the action through live statistics, streaming video or by following @SLUathletics on Twitter. Links to audio, video and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

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. S Club members also gain membership in the Diamond Club.

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.

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Central Arkansas 7, Southeastern 6
(May 11, 2018 at Conway, Ark.)
———————————————————————————
Southeastern……….. 000 213 000 – 6 13 2 (32-19, 19-9-0)
Central Arkansas…. 200 002 21X – 7 9 3 (31-18, 17-8-0)
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Pitchers: Southeastern – Green, Josh; Lee, Peyton (7); Biddy, Jared (8) and Wasinger, Daniel. Central Arkansas – Wiley, Tanner; Brand, Will (5); Williams, Conner (8) and Hancock, William.

Win-Williams, Conner (2-0) Loss-Lee, Peyton (2-1) T-2:42 A-478
Weather: sunny 90 degrees
Wiley, T. faced 2 batters in the 5th.
Lee, P. faced 1 batter in the 8th.