Box Score Box Score
HAMMOND – Junior right-hander
Brandon Efferson pitched his first complete game of the season, scattering nine hits with one strikeout, and No. 23-ranked Southeastern Louisiana used a five-run eighth inning to pull away and defeat Texas State, 10-1, in a Southland Conference game Friday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Joe Sparacino went 3-for-4 with a double while
Josh Cryer and
Cass Hargis each hit two-run doubles as Southeastern (28-8, 11-5 SLC) moved to within one game of Texas State (20-12, 12-4 SLC) for the Southland Conference lead.
The series resumes on Saturday in a 2 p.m. contest. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern (No. 23 USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, No. 29 Collegiate Baseball), sent nine men to the plate in the eighth inning to pull away from a 5-1 lead.
Cody Gougler drew a one-out walk off Texas State starter Carson Smith (4-3) and moved to third when Sparacino greeted Covey Morrow with a single through the right side.
Brock Hebert then hit an RBI single to left field off reliever Mitchell Pitts before
Chris Franklin reached on an error by Kyle Kubitza. Pitts then fanned
Trey Martin before Cryer hit a double to left field and Hargis followed with a double down the left-field line that gave the Lions a 10-1 lead.
Efferson (7-1), who recorded his first career complete game last season against Eastern Illinois, allowed one hit in each of the first four innings before retiring the side in the fifth. The right-hander was aided by a defense that turned a pair of double plays and a pair of diving catches by Gougler in right field.
Southeastern broke open a scoreless game in the fourth inning with RBI singles by Sparacino and Hebert.
Justin Boudreaux led off the inning with a walk before moving to third when Smith threw past first baseman Kyle Livingstone on an attempted pickoff throw.
Gougler hit a one-out single to left field to put runners on the corners before Sparacino hit a liner off the glove of Livingstone to score Boudreaux and give Southeastern a 1-0 lead. Hebert followed three pitches later when he singled to left field to score Sparacino and put Southeastern ahead 2-0.
The Lions added three more runs in the fifth inning, taking advantage of another error by Smith and getting RBIs by Boudreaux and
Jeff Harkensee. The first two Lion batters reached base as
Chris Ernest drew a walk and Cryer was hit by a pitch.
Hargis then attempted to bunt the runners over, but Smith's throw got past Kubitza at third and allowed Martin, who entered as a pinch-runner, to score. Cryer then scored on Boudreaux's high chopper to shortstop and Hargis scored when Harkensee grounded to first.
Smith fanned seven batters and scattered five hits in 7.1 innings for the Bobcats, who entered the game as the top fielding team in the Southland Conference but committed three errors which led to five unearned runs. Jeff McVaney led Texas State's nine-hit attack going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles while Tyler Sibley went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the seventh.
Texas State......... 000 000 100 - 1 9 3
Southeastern La..... 000 230 05x - 10 9 0
Smith, Morrow (8), Pitts (8) and Stumph. Efferson and Cryer. W – Efferson (7-1). L – Smith (4-3). E – Kubitza (10), Smith 2 (2). DP - TXST 1, SLU 2. LOB - TXST 7, SLU 4. 2B – Livingstone (8), McVaney 2 (7), Hargis (15), Sparacino (5), Cryer (7). HBP – Cryer 2. SH – Atwood (7), Hargis (3). CS – Cryer (5). T - 2:35. A – 981.
