No. 1 Southeastern Louisiana Wins 3-2 in Extras
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SUGAR LAND, Texas
– No. 1 Southeastern Louisiana racked up 12 hits in a 3-2, 12 inning decision over No. 4 McNeese State to advance in the 2015 Conference Tournament.
Southeastern Louisiana (42-16, 25-5 Southland) came out swinging with two hits in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Daniel Midyett picked up an RBI scoring sophomore Carson Crites while grounding out to second base giving the Lions a 1-0 lead over McNeese State (32-25, 18-12 Southland).
With two outs and runners on the corners, senior Kevin Carr singled to right field as Crites picked up his second run of the game as the Lions led 2-0.
McNeese State junior Cameron Toole singled in the top of the seventh inning, cutting the Lions’ lead in half, 2-1, on a run from junior Lewis Guilbeau. The Cowboys tied it up on a wild pitch as junior Cameron Toole crossed the plate.
With one out, Guilbeau double to deep right-center field in the ninth inning to force a mound meeting from Southeastern’s coach, Matt Riser. After the second out, the Lions brought in right-handed freshman Mac Sceroler who got the strikeout to end the inning.
Southeastern went down in order in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extra innings for the first time in the 2015 tournament.
McNeese State right-handed junior Ethan Stremmel came into the game in the bottom of the 12th inning with no outs on a 3-1 count against Carr with Midyett at first base. Carr singled up the right side to advance Midyett to third base. Junior Kyle Cedotal picked up a sacrifice fly to drive in Midyett for the win.
No. 1 Southeastern Louisiana will take on the loser of No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 5 Sam Houston State Friday at noon on ESPN3.
Southeastern Louisiana Coach Matt Riser
“Our attitude all season has been that is going to take all 35 of us and I think we only had one guy left on the bench. You never know in the tournament who is going to be the hero and Kyle Cedotal stepped up with a huge at-bat in that last inning to win it for us.”
On (closer) Mac Sceroler
“He’s a special guy and he came in with the attitude that they weren’t going to score. We had an outstanding defensive effort behind Mac to get out of that jam in the 11th. Chris Eades did an outstanding job blocking the plate on that play and I couldn’t me proud of that play.”
On building momentum throughout the tournament
“We have a chance to get on a roll, but we can only worry about tomorrow. All we know is we’re playing tomorrow at noon and we just have to take it one game at a time"
Closer Mac Sceroler
“I was just trying to do anything I could do to help us get the win. Whether it was pitching to contact or striking guys out, I was just trying to get outs.”
McNeese State Coach Justin Hill
“It was one of the most entertaining baseball games and will be hard to top. You want the guys on the field to decide the game and they did. We just came up short today. You are never ready for that moment when it ends. With the heart that our seniors have, it will be hard to replace that. We feel like we are headed in the right direction and these guys helped us do that.”