JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team led for most of the game Sunday before Jacksonville rallied late for a 6-4 win, taking the series two games to one at John Sessions Stadium.
Jacksonville (8-5) rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth against the Lions (8-4) with both the tying and winning runs scoring on a walk-off home run by first baseman Hogan McIntosh.
Early in the game, Southeastern took advantage of a bout with wildness by Dolphin starting pitcher Dakota Stone. The freshman left-hander walked Shea Thomas, Christian Garcia and Connor Manola to load the bases in the second inning before he hit TJ Salvaggio with a pitch, forcing in the first run of the game.
Jacksonville responded with a run in the bottom of the inning. Lion starting pitcher Andrew Landry issued back-to-back walks with two out before the ninth-place hitter, Elias Flowers, singled to right field to plate the tying run.
The Lions regained the lead in the fourth. Garcia drew a leadoff walk before reliever Blake Barquin hit Manola with a pitch. Salvaggio laid down a perfectly-placed bunt for a pitch, loading the bases. Garcia scored on a double-play ground ball.
Southeastern added another run in the fifth. Tyler Finke led off the inning with a hustle double to left field and then scored on Thomas’ RBI single up the middle.
Finke swiped his second bag of the game in the seventh, giving him 14 this season and 70 in his career.
The Lions added an insurance run in the ninth. Joe Delaney was hit by a pitch to open up the inning. After he stole second and advanced to second on a throwing error by the catcher, Delaney scored on an RBI double to right by Champ Artigues.
Jacksonville’s rally in the bottom of the ninth came off closer Dalton Aspholm (0-1), who suffered the loss. He allowed five runs – all earned – in 0.2 of an inning pitched. Aspholm surrendered three hits, a pair of walks and a wild pitch. He struck out one.
Dolphin reliever Chris Lotito (1-0) earned the win after facing one batter and having his teammates turn a double play on a fly ball to send the game to the bottom of the ninth.
Finke (2-for-4 at the plate) bypassed Brock Hebert into second place on the Lions’ career stolen base chart, trailing all-time leader Melvin Meyers (71) by one.
UP NEXT
Southeastern continues on its road trip with a 1 p.m. midweek contest Wednesday in Huntsville, Alabama against Alabama A&M. It will be the first matchup between the two schools on the diamond. The Lions conclude their trip with a three-game series at Auburn, March 10-12.
{Courtesy: Southeastern Athletics}