Southeastern baseball took care of business over the weekend, taking down Alcorn State in a three-game series in Hammond at Alumni Field. All matches were cut short due to the game ending by run rule (automatic win if up by 10 in the seventh).

Game one started quickly as senior first baseman Ryan Brome went yard in the first at-bat of the matchup for the Lions, marking his fourth of the year.

The bats stayed hot for SLU all night, especially for junior outfielder Dane Watts, who went 4-4, batting in three runs. Conner O’Neal contributed a solo home run in the fifth as well.

Redshirt senior pitcher Brennan Stuprich (2-0) collected the win, striking out seven batters in five innings while allowing no runs.

Southeastern wrapped the game up in the seventh by a score of 10-0.

Game two began much like game one, as Watts hit a solo bomb in the second to get the Lions on the board early, the first for him this season. Southeastern continued to apply pressure as seniors T.J. Salvaggio and Logan Walters batted in runs to find themselves up 6-0 in the fifth.

The hitting spree stayed consistent, as SLU scored five more in the sixth to win the second game early, 11-0.

Junior Lakin Polk stayed on trend in the pitching department, throwing seven strikeouts in five scoreless innings to grab the win.

Game three was an odd one in Hammond, as Alcorn State could not shake off the first two defeats, walking an outrageous 18 batters.

Errors and walks made for an interesting finish to the ball game, as SLU scored in football numbers, putting up 17 on just eight hits against the visiting Braves.

The match began quickly, as the Lions scored six in the first on one hit and continued to capitalize, finding home plate in multiple innings while hardly swinging the bat.

Alcorn State seemed to find a stride for the first time all series, scoring a pair of runs in the sixth, but the boys from Hammond wrapped things up, scoring seven more in the bottom of the sixth for an insurmountable 17-2 advantage.

Head coach Bobby Barbier praised his team’s bounce-back performance after a disappointing loss to Tulane last Wednesday. He also noted their position heading into the thick of the season.

“I think we are playing well enough to beat some good teams, and we must play well when we get the opportunity. When you’re playing against a better team, they take advantage of your mistakes more, the ball moves a little faster, we just need a good practice Monday,” Barbier said.

Senior All-Southland shortstop T.J. Salvaggio agreed with his coach that practice is everything.

“We worked hard on the days leading up to the series, and it helped us find good at-bats when we were out there,” Salvaggio noted.

Southeastern’s record improves to 7-1 on the season as it looks ahead to its mid-week matchup on the road against UL Lafayette today, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m.