HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team opens Southland Conference action on Friday when it hosts UTSA in a three-game series at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

First pitch for Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. with Saturday's game slated for 2 p.m. and Sunday's finale at 1. The series opener and finale are scheduled to be broadcast in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.

Saturday's contest is tentatively scheduled to be aired on radio and internet, depending on the Southeastern men's basketball team's status in the 2010 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament.

Southeastern (No. 26 in Collegiate Baseball) improved its record to 12-1 on the season after an 8-5 win at in-state rival Southern University on Tuesday. The Lions used a 10-hit attack to build a 5-0 lead before holding off the Jaguars.

The Lions, who posted their best-ever league finish (21-12) since joining the Southland Conference in 1998, are led at the plate by newcomer Jeff Harkensee. The junior college transfer is hitting .426 at the plate with two home runs and 13 RBI.

Justin Boudreaux is next in hitting at .417 with Cody Gougler (.300-2-13), Brock Hebert (.289-0-16), Cass Hargis (.259-0-10) and Chad Gough-Fortenberry (.259-0-3) following. As a team, Southeastern is hitting .289 while the Lion pitching staff is holding opponents to a .244 clip.

On the mound, the Lion pitching staff has posted a team ERA of 2.97 and has recorded seven saves.

Junior right-hander Tyler Watkins (1-1, 2.79 ERA) will start in Friday's opener for Southeastern with right-hander Brandon Efferson (3-0, 2.89 ERA) scheduled to take the mound on Saturday. Junior college transfer Tanner Lorenz (1-0, 0.64 ERA) will start for Southeastern in Sunday's finale.

UTSA (7-4) opened the season with five straight wins before losing its next four, including a 17-12 setback at No. 7 TCU. The Roadrunners split a four-game series at San Francisco last weekend taking the final two games of the series in a pair of one-run contests.

Ryan Hutson leads UTSA at the plate with a .300 average, followed by Casey Selsor (.267-2-4) and Ryan Dalton (.265-2-6). As a team, the Roadrunners are hitting .260 and have tallied 10 home runs on the season.

Selsor (2-1, 2.50 ERA), a southpaw, will start on the mound in Friday's opener for UTSA with Matt Crocker (2-0, 4.66 ERA) scheduled to take the mound on Saturday. D.D. Towler (1-1, 3.46 ERA) will start in Sunday's finale for UTSA.