SLU's Season Ends on Day Three of North Oaks Health System SLC Championship - Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics (2024)

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team saw its 2024 season come to an end on day three of the 2024 North Oaks Health System Southland Conference Baseball Championship Friday night at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

Southeastern (30-28) held off elimination with a 11-5 victory over New Orleans (31-26) early in the day on Friday. However, Nicholls' Basiel Williams hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 4-3 victory that put the Colonels (37-20) in the championship game and ended SLU's season.

The Colonels will await the winner of Saturday's 1 p.m. contest between Lamar and McNeese in Saturday's 6 p.m. championship contest. Saturday's games will be televised on ESPN+.

Southeastern's inaugural season under head coach Bobby Barbier ended with the Lions setting a new single-season standard with 86 home runs, besting the previous mark of 83 set in consecutive seasons by the 1997 and 1998 teams.

Game One – Southeastern 11, New Orleans 5
SLU wasted no time jumping on New Orleans starter Grant Edwards (5-5) in the top of the first inning, as Southeastern scored all its runs with two outs in a frame that saw 12 Lions come to the plate.

Rhett Rosevear singled home the inning's first run, then two more runs came in on a two-run single by Jake Haze. Later in the frame, Conner O'Neal launched a three-run home run to stake SLU to an early 6-0 advantage.

UNO answered with runs off SLU starter Aiden Vosburg (1-5) in each of the first two innings, before Southeastern added to its tally in the top of the third inning. O'Neal drew a leadoff walk and was singled home by Ryan Brome to put the Lions up, 7-2.

With Vosburg keeping the Privateers off the scoreboard over the next five innings, the Lions built on their advantage. Parker Coley reached on an error in the top of the fifth inning, stole second and scored an unearned run on a double by Jude Hall.

Southeastern added to its tally in the top of the eighth inning, as RBI by TJ Salvaggio and O'Neal put SLU on top, 10-2.

New Orleans answered with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning by Victor Castillo to cut the lead to 10-4. Southeastern answered with a long ball of their own in the top of the ninth, as Coley led off the frame with his 12^th home run of the season.

Despite allowing a home run to Bryce Calloway in the ninth, Vosburg recovered to retire Maika Niu and strike out Dylan Mach to keep SLU's season alive. The Jarreau, Louisiana native struck out seven and walked none in the complete-game effort that saw him throw 118 pitches and earn his first win as a Lion.

Coley and Haze led a 14-hit SLU attack with three hits apiece. O'Neal paced the Lions with four RBI, as he, Coley and Rosevear each scored two runs to lead Southeastern.

Game Two – Nicholls 4, Southeastern 3
SLU's Dalton Aspholm and Nicholls starter Devin Desandro matched zeroes until the Colonels struck first in the bottom of the third inning. SLC Player of the Year Edgar Alvarez drilled a solo home run over the right field fence to put Nicholls up, 1-0.

Southeastern mounted a threat in the top of the fourth inning, as Hall doubled and Rosevear reached on an error to put runners on the corners with two outs, but Desandro recovered to retire Haze and keep SLU off the board.

The first two batters of the fourth reached for Nicholls and Barbier went to SLC Freshman of the Year Larson Fabre out of the bullpen. Fabre kept the deficit at one, retiring the first three Colonels he faced.

Nicholls mounted another threat against Fabre in the sixth, but the Denham Springs, Louisiana native again answered the call. Facing the dangerous Alvarez with the bases loaded and two outs, Fabre caught the Nicholls slugger looking to maintain the 1-0 deficit.

Southeastern finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning. Haze singled, O'Neal walked and Salvaggio was hit by a pitch to load the bases, then Cole Stromboe drew a bases loaded walk to force in the tying run. A sacrifice fly by Coley scored O'Neal and put the Lions up, 2-1.

Nicholls tied it with an RBI double by Williams in the seventh and then took the lead in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Gerardo Villarreal.

Southeastern would not quit, however, as Nicholls reliever Arturo Rodriguez hit Hall with the bases loaded to keep SLU's hopes alive and tie the game. However, Williams hit the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth well over the right field fence to give Nicholls the victory.

2024 North Oaks Health System Southland Conference Baseball Championship
May 22-25, 2024 | Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field | Hammond, America

Wednesday, May 22
Game 1 – No. 5 McNeese 10, No. 4 Northwestern State 5
Game 2 – No. 8 UIW 6, No. 1 Lamar 3
Game 3 – No. 2 Nicholls 14, No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2 (7 Innings)
Game 4 – No. 6 Southeastern 10, No. 3 New Orleans 2

Thursday, May 23
Game 5 – Lamar 12, Northwestern State 5 (NSU eliminated)
Game 6 – New Orleans 7, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4 (AMCC eliminated)
Game 7 – McNeese 6, UIW 2
Game 8 – Nicholls 5, Southeastern 4 (10 Innings)

Friday, May 24
Game 9 – Lamar 18, UIW 6 (7 Innings) (UIW eliminated)
Game 10 – Southeastern 11, New Orleans 5 (UNO eliminated)
Game 11 – Lamar 18, McNeese 9
Game 12 – Nicholls 4, Southeastern 3 (SLU eliminated)

Saturday, May 25
Game 13 – Lamar vs. McNeese, 1 p.m. (Elimination Game) | ESPN+
Game 14 – Nicholls vs. Game 13 winner, 6 p.m. (Championship Game) | ESPN+

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
Fans are encouraged to follow the Southeastern Baseball social media accounts (@LionUpBaseball)on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay engaged with the program.

The latest updates are also available at www.LionSports.net and the Lions Gameday Experience app. Available for both Android and iOS devices, the Gameday app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.