The Lions baseball team added more depth to their pitching rotation over the summer with senior southpaw pitcher Brock Batty.

The 6’1” Denham Springs High School graduate transferred from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette after entering into the NCAA transfer portal.

Batty was originally recruited out of high school by Southeastern head baseball coach Matt Riser, but ultimately chose to sign with the Ragin’ Cajuns.

“Southeastern has a real good reputation with being a scrappy squad and always competing with big-time teams,” shared Batty. “When I entered the transfer portal, coach Riser gave me a call and really was persistent on getting me to come here.”

Batty is a second generation Lions baseball player as his father, Chris Batty, helped lead the Lions to the 1992 TAAC West Division Title. Brock shared how there is not any pressure from his Dad.

“My Dad is one of those guys who doesn’t really talk about all of his athletic accomplishments,” commented Batty. “There isn’t any real pressure from him, as he just wants me to come out and perform.”

Eighth year head coach Matt Riser shared how COVID-19 has affected the recruiting process over the last year.

“It’s very different than years past as we have had to resort to things we aren’t too familiar with,” explained Riser. “We have to watch a lot of film on new guys but in Brock’s case, we had a good bit of film on him and knew his style of play.”

Batty shared what his goal is with the Lions this upcoming season.

“The ultimate goal is to compete for a Southland Conference championship and hopefully win in Omaha,” said Batty. “This is a very talented team, and I think if everyone is on the same page then we could accomplish a lot of things. This group of guys are scrappy and talented.”

Riser shared what he hopes Batty can bring to the table for the Lions.

“He’s pitched in some big-time moments and has a lot of experience on his resume,” said Riser. “He’s a great athlete and hopefully will become a leader on this team.”

During the recruiting process, Riser laid out what he wanted to see out of Batty and an area where he needed to improve.

“I think he could be a guy we go to a lot during the season and throw a hard ball,” shared Riser. “We both talked about it in detail, and I told him that the consistency needs to be there this season and we should be fine.”

The Lions added 25 new players to their squad for the 2021 season and are currently in fall intra squad scrimmages.