Southeastern falls to Sam Houston State, set to face Northwestern State in elimination game
Box Score and Play-by-Play in .html Format
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Lions rallied twice to tie the game, but it wasn't enough as the No. 7 seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats (33-22, 19-14 Southland Conference) scored five times in the seventh and plated seven unanswered runs to hand the No. 2 seeded Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (35-21, 21-13 SLC) a 9-2 loss in each team's debut at the 2009 SLC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday.
The Bearkats jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first. However, the Lions answered immediately in the bottom half as senior second baseman
Ty Summerlin doubled to center and took third on a wild pitch.
Senior left fielder
Brandon Street followed with an RBi single to tie things at 1-1. The Lions threatened to take the lead, loading the bases with two outs. Unforutnately, Lion third baseman
Chris Ernest grounded into an inning-ending fielder's choice to leave the first three of ten men on base.
The Bearkats reclaimed a one-run lead in the second on a pair of hits and a run-scoring fielder's choice to make it 2-1 SHSU after two.
However, the Lions answered in the bottom of the third as sophomore first baseman
Joe Sparacino doubled home senior designated hitter
Brian McCants to tie things at 2-2 after three.
After a scoreless fourth, Southeastern sophomore right handed starter
Brandon Efferson ran into trouble in the fifth. A solo homer by the Bearkats' Nick Zaleski put SHSU out in front 3-2 after five, and a two-out error by Summerlin was followed by an RBI single by Ryan Mooney that plated an unearned run to make it 4-2 in the sixth.
Sam Houston State broke the game open in the seventh, sending ten men to the plate and scoring five runs to make it 9-2, and the Lions couldn't muster anymore runs off Sean Weatherford, who went the distance for a complete game victory.
The Lions will now get set to face No. 6 seeded Northwestern State in an elimination contest on Thursday at 9 a.m. The Demons lost to No. 3 seed Texas-San Antonio 5-4 in the opening contest of the 2009 SLC Baseball Tournament. The winner will stay alive to in the double-elimination tournament to take on the loser of the contest between Sam Houston State and Texas-San Antonio on Friday at 9 a.m. The loser of the Lions and Demons contest will be eliminated.
Live stats and streaming audio play-by-play will be available online at www.LionSports.net, and the game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM.