Last night, Southeastern took down No. 8 Oklahoma on Alumni Field to claim its highest-ranked win since the upset over No. 11 East Carolina at the Keith Clair Classic in 2024.
The Lions stood off against the Sooners in the first three innings with the help of the sophomore pitcher Nik Toups, who threw five strikeouts and kept the nationally ranked team scoreless through the first three innings.
SLU found its way on the board when junior shortstop Connor Cuff found his way home from second base after a single sent to first base by junior right fielder Peyton Woods late in the fourth inning.
Southeastern continued to extend the lead later in their next at-bat when senior catcher Blaise Priester hit a home run that was launched toward left field.
While the Sooners remained scoreless, senior first baseman Brody Capps trotted his way to home plate with an error made by Oklahoma’s junior shortstop Jaxson Willtis.
To keep the nationally ranked team in silence, SLU utilized its pitching room to stay ahead of OU and had graduate pitcher Triston Todorowski close the first shutout game since last year against McNeese.
After the game, Head Coach Bobby Barbier praised the defensive performance to help the team remain in the lead over No. 8 Oklahoma and spoke about how he felt after the win.
“I’m proud of our guys; they played great. I thought our defense played really well, as we pitched five guys tonight that I thought all threw the ball well. Nick gave us a great start and defense wins games; that was shown a lot tonight,” Barbier said.
Although the Lions only won by three runs, Barbier explained how pleased he was to see the team had many outstanding hits off the bat that aren’t reflected well in the final score.
“I thought we swung the bat better than three runs, and I’m just really proud of playing clean baseball tonight and not getting too excited when you’re playing somebody like Oklahoma,” Barbier said.
Throughout the night, it was no surprise that the Blaise Priester performance would be celebrated as he drove the offense with his strong presence and almost completed a cycle.
“Blaise is one of the more talented guys that we have, and he worked through lots of struggles earlier in the season. Tonight, that team really wanted to steal, but he prevented them from trying, and it’s nice to see as the season continues, he keeps growing,” Barbier said.
Priester finished the night out with a single, a triple off the wall for extra bases, and a home run to left field. He kept pressure on the Sooners’ offense to make sure the Lions stayed ahead.
After the game, he shared the team’s perspective on starting the season against two tough teams and how the team felt about taking down a team that’s ranked in the top 10.
“I know the guys really loved this one, especially after having such a rocky start to the season, we’re really starting to feel the team out and improving. I know it really means a lot to me, and I know it really means a lot to coach Bobby,” said Priester.
Priester also had tremendous success last weekend versus SFA to win the series on Saturday with a walk-off run and was only one double away from the cycle.
However, to him, it felt rewarding to see how well the team has been working together to find a way to win and push through challenges during games and practices.
“A lot of our success is owed to our coaching staff. Coach Francis does a lot with our pitchers and Coach Barbier really harped on our defense to make sure we have a chance to win this game,” Priester said.
Although it’s still early to know where the Lions will be towards the end of the season, the locker room was ecstatic after the upset.
“After seeing what our team and coaches did tonight, I love it, and I’m all about it; I’m going to go in there and hug every single one of them and just enjoy the night,” Priester said.
The team looks forward to improving more throughout the season to stay ahead and have a chance to be highly placed in the Southland Baseball Tournament.
Southeastern’s upcoming schedule features a weekend conference series at McNeese in Lake Charles, followed by another game next week on the road against No. 25 UL Lafayette, another nationally ranked opponent.
SLU series against McNeese opens on Friday, March 20, at 6 p.m. in Lake Charles.
All fans can tune in on the radio to listen to the game for free on KSLU 90.9 The Lion or watch it live from anywhere on ESPN+.
