Southeastern baseball played Samford of Birmingham, Ala., on March 18-20 in a three-game series, losing all three games, 10-4, 6-5 and 16-8.

The teams met at Alumni Field, where Lions’ pitching struggles led to SLU being outscored 32-17 for the weekend, being the last out of conference series for the rest of the season. 

Pitcher Will Kinzeler started game one on the mound, striking out seven batters, and allowing six hits and three runs in six innings. 

First baseman Preston Faulkner led the Lions batting with one hit and one run. Faulkner’s home run early in the seventh inning led to two RBIs for the Lions.

Solid performances by third baseman Shea Thomas and shortstop Evan Keller kept SLU neck and neck in game two. Thomas and Keller had two hits, one run and two RBIs.

Game three had a rough start for the Lions, with nine runs scored in the first two innings, negating SLU’s five runs in the top of the first. 

Left fielder Tristan Welch shined in game three with two runs, three hits and three RBIs, with right fielder Christian Garcia batting two runs, three hits and two RBIs for Southeastern. 

Samford’s left fielder/catcher Kaden Dreier lifted the Bulldogs above the Lions with a series performance of four runs, seven hits and nine RBIs.

The Lions look to improve their record as they travel to Tulane for a Tuesday night game in New Orleans. The next series for the Lions will take place at Alumni Field for their first in-conference match up against the Nicholls State Colonels for a three-game series March 25-27.