HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team seeks to win a Southland Conference title this weekend as it wraps up its regular-season schedule with a three-game series against Nicholls at Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
Southeastern (22-26, 12-9 SLC) enters the series tied with McNeese for first place in the conference standings. Nicholls (24-20, 11-10 SLC) sits just one game back, tied with Houston Baptist, New Orleans and Northwestern State for third in the tightest Southland race in recent memory.
With the top six teams all playing each other this weekend, a sweep is the only way to guarantee the Lions at least a share of the regular-season title.
Fans in the Hammond area can listen to game broadcasts on the flagship station of the Southeastern Sports Radio Network – KSLU 90.9 FM – in addition to online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive and via the Lions Gameday Experience, Mixlr and MyTuner Radio apps. The MyTuner app is compatible with the Apple CarPlay software available in most late model automobiles. Fans should search for SLU Athletics (Mixlr) or Southeastern Sports Radio Network (MyTuner).
The Lions swept Houston Baptist in a conference series this past weekend before falling Tuesday to No. 9-ranked LSU in their final non-conference game of the regular season.
Preston Faulkner (.308), the Southland’s Hitter of the Week, teams with Shea Thomas (.273), Evan Keller (.264) and Christian Garcia (.259) to pace Southeastern at the plate. Faulkner leads the squad with 27 extra-base hits, including a Southland-leading 13 home runs to go along with 52 RBIs. The RBI total ranks second in the conference. Tyler Finke leads the Southland with 23 stolen bases. Rhett Rosevear (30) leads the nation in HBPs and the Lions (100) rank second as a team behind Purdue (105).
Faulkner enters the weekend tied for second (33) on Southeastern’s career home run chart with Jeremy Gross (1997-98). He is now third (158) in career RBIs, having bypassed Ty Summerlin (2006-09) in this past weekend’s series finale. Faulkner is also fourth (40) in career HBPs, five back of Rosevear who sits in third place (45).
With two steals at LSU, Finke (51) bypassed Rod Morris (1987-88) for ninth place on the program’s career stolen base list. He is currently three behind Tommy Ferrand (1994-96).
Reliever Gage Trahan is tied for both sixth on the single-season saves (8) chart with Mike Kimbrell (1996) and Chris Province (2007) and 10th on the program’s career saves (8) chart with Scott Kupper (1989-91), Kimbrell (1995-96) and Bryce Tassin (2017-19).
Nicholls has lost its last five games dating back to the series finale, May 1, against New Orleans.
Parker Coddou (.306), Alec Paz (.299) and Garrett Felix (.294) are the Colonels’ leading hitters. Edgar Alvarez paces the team with 19 extra-base hits and 47 RBIs. Alvarez and Paz have hit nine home runs each, ranking third in the Southland. Dane Simon leads the team with 17 stolen bases.
UP NEXT
Southeastern will participate in bracket play during the first week of the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will host their respective brackets, May 19-22. Bracket winners advance to a best 2-of-3 championships series, May 26-28, hosted by the top remaining seed.
RADIO SHOW
The next episode of Inside Southeastern Baseball with Matt Riser, presented by Pour House Pizza and Beer Garden, is slated for Monday at 12 p.m. from the restaurant in downtown Hammond. Fans can listen to every show online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive and via the Lions Gameday Experience, MyTuner Radio or Mixlr apps. The MyTuner Radio app is compatible with the Apple CarPlay software available in most newer automobiles.
LIONS GAMEDAY EXPERIENCE APP
The Lions Gameday Experience app puts audio, stats, video, social media and more in the hands of fans. Those in attendance can also check in to earn reward points redeemable for Southeastern-related prizes. Available for both Android and iOS devices, it can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play or by following the link www.LionSports.net/App.
DIAMOND CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the baseball program are encouraged to join the Diamond Club. Lion baseball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the Diamond Club and S Club (baseball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern baseball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or by visiting www.LionUp.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Lions Baseball, follow @LionUpBaseball or @MattRiser17 on Twitter, @LionUpBaseball on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
{Courtesy: release from Southeastern}