Box Score and Play-by-Play in .html Format

HAMMOND – The Lions lead early on and hung tough in a back-and-forth contest with the No. 6 team in the nation.  Unfortunately, a late Southeastern rally fell just short as the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (23-16) fell to the LSU Tigers (29-12) in Baton Rouge by a final of 6-5 on Tuesday night. 

Southeastern got off to a quick start as sophomore center fielder Cass Hargis drilled a sharp single to center on the first pitch of the ballgame. 

After Hargis stole second, sophomore catcher Josh Cryer dropped a bloop single to center field.  Hargis rounded third hard, but pulled up to draw a throw from the outfield.  LSU center fielder Mikie Mahtook's throw went home, and Cryer tried to take second.  Cryer was thrown out, but Hargis was able to break from third to score the Lions' first run of the game and stake the Lions to a 1-0 lead after one. 

After retiring the side in order in the first, Southeastern junior left hander Shawn Herring ran into trouble in the second.  Herring retired the leadoff man, but consecutive singles by LSU's DJ LeMahieu and Jared Mitchell put runners at first and second.  A wild pitch by Herring allowed Mitchell to take second and put two men in scoring position to bring up Micah Gibbs.

Gibbs lined out to Hargis in center and LeMahieu tagged and scored to tie things at 1-1.  Fortunately for the Lions, Mitchell was doubled off second after failing to tag as Herring got out of the jam with just one run. 

However, the Lions answered in the top of the third as senior shortstop Ty Summerlin doubled down the left field line with one out.  After a walk to Hargis, senior left fielder Brandon Street doubled home a run, Cryer picked up an RBI groundout and sophomore first baseman Joe Sparacino drilled a run-scoring single through the right side as Southeastern claimed a 4-1 lead after two and a half. 

Unfortunately, for the Lions, LSU took the lead in the bottom of the third.  LSU sent nine men to the plate and took advantage of a Lion error, two walks and a balk by Herring to score five times on three hits.  Consecutive one-out home runs by Ryan Schimpf (a two-run shot) and Blake Dean (a solo homer) were the biggest blows as the Lions found themselves down 6-4 heading into the fourth. 

Southeastern rallied with one in the top of the fourth as junior third baseman Chris Ernest notched a one-out single to left.  Unfortunately, Ernest was erased on an interference call after being hit by a ground ball off the bat of junior shortstop Justin Boudreaux.  Boudreaux swiped second and came home on an RBI single by Summerlin to bring the Lions to within one at 6-5.

After allowing a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth, Herring gave way to senior right hander Robert Rugg.  Rugg kept the Lions within one by shutting out the Tigers in his 5.0 innings of work.  Rugg, making his 11^th appearance after undergoing “Tommy John” surgery in the fall of 2008 and missing all of last season, allowed just two walks and one hit while striking out four in a brilliant scoreless outing that handcuffed the No. 6 team in the nation the rest of the game.

The Houston native retired the first nine batters he faced and struck four straight (including striking out the side in the sixth) to send the Lions into the seventh trailing 6-5.
 

Southeastern threatened in the seventh as back-to-back one-out singles from Hargis and Street put runners at the corners.  Unfortunately, for the Lions, Cryer grounded into an inning-ending double play with the tying run 90 feet away.

Southeastern threatened again in the eighth as junior right fielder Philip Freeman and senior designated hitter Jordan D'Arensbourg took their turns notching consecutive one-out singles.  However, the Lion threat came up short once again as another inning ending double play, this time off the bat of Ernest, sent Southeastern to the ninth down 6-5.

The Lions tried to mount one last rally as Summerlin singled to center with one out.  Hargis followed by popping out to right, but Street kept things alive for the Lions with a single to left center field that put runners at the corners with two outs. 

Cryer followed with a slow-roller to short, and nearly beat out the throw from LeMahieu.  However, first base umpire Ray Miller called Cryer out on a close call to end the game.