HAMMOND, La. – One night after McNeese rallied for a comeback victory against the Lions, the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team rallied for an 8-7 comeback win of its own Saturday in Southland Conference action at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field, forcing a rubber match in Sunday’s series finale against the Cowboys.
Southeastern (18-17, 4-7 SLC) reliever Jackson Rodriguez (1-0), appearing for the second time in as many nights, earned the win. McNeese (23-12, 5-6 SLC) reliever Christian Vega (3-3) was tagged with the loss one night after earning the win.
Champ Artigues (2-for-4) and Tyler Finke (2-for-5) picked up all but one of the Lions’ hits in the game. Artigues drove in the game-winning run in the eighth with his two-out, opposite-field single to left.
The Cowboys chased hard-luck starter Andrew Landry from the game in the sixth after going up 3-0 in the game. Landry had suffered the loss in each of his last four starts coming in despite having pitched well enough to earn the win in at least three of those outings.
SLU finally broke through against Cowboy pitching in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of the bullpen’s inability to throw strikes to pull within a run. Shea Thomas drew a two-out walk and Artigues followed with his first hit, a single to right field that chase reliever JT Moeller from the game.
Brock Barthelemy entered and walked both batters he faced, Pierce Leavengood and Rhett Rosevear, to force in a run. Derrick Cherry, the Cowboys’ third pitcher of the inning, walked TJ Salvaggio to force in another run before getting out of the inning. McNeese pitchers walked 11 batters over the final five innings.
The Cowboys responded immediately. Back-to-back hits against the Lions’ Lakin Polk put a pair of runners in scoring position to open up the seventh. A pair of errors in the outfield on the same play benefitted McNeese as it picked up three runs on what effectively were two sacrifice flies and extended its lead to 6-2 over SLU.
Southeastern would not go away quietly and went right back to grinding out at-bats in the bottom of the seventh. Cherry Walked Bryce Grizzaffi to open up the inning. Finke followed with his second hit of the game, a single to left and Connor Manola drew one of his three walks in the game to load the bases.
Thomas greeted Vega with a two-run single to right-center field and the Lions pulled within a pair, 6-4. Artigues laid down a sacrifice bunt, pushing Manola and Thomas into scoring position. Leavengood drew his third walk of the game, loading the bases again. Rosevear ground to first, but in an attempt to turn an inning-ending double play, the first baseman threw the ball away at second as he tried to cut down Leavengood. Manola and Thomas both scored, tying the game.
Vega walked Salvaggio to load the bases once again. Two batters later, Leavengood scored on a passed ball off the glove of Cowboy catcher Andruw Gonzales.
Another outfield error in the eighth led to McNeese scoring the tying run but in the bottom of the inning Southeastern regained the lead for good. After Manola drew a one-out walk, pinch-runner Joe Delaney stole second base. He would score ahead of the throw on Artigues’ two-out single to left.
Rodriguez allowed one hit in 1.1 scoreless innings of relief work, striking out two. Vega allowed three runs – one earned – in 2.0 innings, surrendering two hits and issuing three walks. He struck out four.
UP NEXT
The series wraps up Sunday at 1 p.m. and is slated for coverage on ESPN+. Brennan Stuprich (3-3, 6.05) gets the start on the mound for Southeastern. The Cowboys have not announced a starting pitcher. Live stats will be available online at www.LionSports.net and in the Lions Gameday Experience app. Fans can also receive in-game updates on Twitter by following the @LionUpBaseball account.
A pregame reunion for all baseball alumni and staff will be held before the game and there will be on-field recognition prior to the first pitch. Baseball alums interested in attending should RSVP with Allie Crain in the LAA office at allie.crain@southeastern.edu.
The series finale is another Military Sunday game with all active duty military personnel and veterans receiving free admission (must show Military ID at the ticket window).
{Courtesy: Southeastern Athletics}
