Box Score



HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana knocked off Stephen F. Austin, 4-3, Friday and Stefan Lopez picked up the save to become the Southland Conference's all-time saves leader.

Lopez nailed down the Lion victory for the fourth-straight game to earn his 18th save of the season and 28th of his career. The save also tied former Sam Houston State pitcher Luke Prihoda for the most by any Southland pitcher in a single season.

Southeastern (32-15, 16-9 Southland) took the early lead with a first-inning run. Harry Slade singled up the middle to lead off the inning and moved up to third base on a pair of ground outs. Jonathan Pace drove in Slade with a single to right field.

SFA (18-27, 11-14 Southland) came right back to tie the score, with a single run in the second, on a pair of doubles. Catcher Jarid Scarafiotti doubled down the thrid-base line to lead off the inning and scored on Ricardo Sanchez's two-out double inside the first-base line.

The Lions added single runs in the third and fourth, with the latter coming on senior Jacob Fisher's first-career home run.

Joseph Koon, the Lion starter, allowed a pair of runs in five innings of work, and left with a 3-2 lead. The Lumberjacks scored a run in the sixth off right-hander Jason Greenleaf to tie the game.

With one out, Hunter Dozier doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. He came  home to score on Chris Hernandez's single to right.

Dylan Hills (8-2) relieved Greenleaf with one out in the seventh, and inherited runners at first and second. Hills fanned the next two hitters to end the inning and spur on the Lion bats.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Slade doubled over the head of the right fielder. After falling behind 2-0 on Ben Hernandez, SFA pulled starter Chase Greening (4-5). Reliever Justin Choate walked Hernandez and then surrendered an RBI double to Brock Hebert.

Hills, who picked up the win, turned it over to Lopez in the ninth.

The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. with Alumni Day. The Lions will host a pre-game reunion and all returning lettermen will be honored at the game, with special recognition given to the 1978 squad.

Gulf South Conference co-champions, the 1978 team was the last baseball squad to win a title until 1992. Key members of the 1978 team included Steve Grigas, who led the nation in doubles (21), and Kenny Lehrmann, Southeastern's all-time wins leader. Lehrman, Chris Belmont and Russ Marsh set or tied what were then Lion single-season records.

Carl Torbush, head coach of the 1978 squad and former head football coach at North Carolina, is slated to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Saturday's game. Fans can also play Baseball Bingo at the ballpark.

Right-hander Andro Cutura (3-1, 3.38), a freshman from Pearl River, La., is slated to start for the Lions against SFA freshman right-hander Cameron Gann (5-2, 2.03). The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and live statistics will be available at www.LionSports.net. Fans can also keep up with the game on Twitter by following @SLUathletics.

Line Score
Stephen F. Austin... 010 011 000 – 3  9 0    (18-27, 11-14 SLC)
Southeastern La..... 101 100 10x – 4 10 0   (32-15, 16-9 SLC)
Greening, Choate (7), Moshier (8) and Scarafiotti. Koon, Greenleaf (6), Hills (7), Lopez (9) and Fisher. W – Hills (8-2). Sv. - Lopez (18). L – Greening (4-5). DP - SFA 1. LOB - SFA 9, SLU 6. 2B – Dozier (15), Scarafiotti (8), Loveless (6), Sanchez (7), Slade (8), Hebert (19), Gougler (12). HR – Fisher (1). HBP - Hebert. SH – Sanchez (3), Benson 2 (3), Pace (6). SF – Cummings (2). CS – Hebert (6). T - 2:24. A – 822.