Last night, Southeastern (17-12, 8-4 SLC) took down No. 8 Southern Miss (21-8, 6-4 SBC) on the road for the second upset of the season after the team swept UNO in the Pontchartrain Bowl last weekend.
To open the game, senior pitcher Luke Lirette had a shutout performance to keep the Golden Eagles grounded with zero runs through the first five innings and only five hits throughout the game.
Before Liretter was relieved in the seventh inning, he struck out seven batters in 104 pitches and finished his time on the mound with no runs and no errors against 25 batters.
Junior pitcher Larson Fabre and freshman Logan Freche had time on the mound before graduate pitcher Triston Todorowski closed out the win.
Combined, the SLU pitching room finished the game with a total of 10 strikeouts and seven hits, while they held Southern Miss to only one run in the eighth inning to remain ahead, 5-1.
Senior first baseman Brody Capps hit a home run with a runner on first base, giving Southeastern a two-run lead over the Golden Eagles.
Offensively, the Lions continued to rally for more runs with a single from senior first baseman Alex Perry and a sacrifice bunt from senior centerfielder Dane Watts in the fourth inning to increase their lead to 4-0.
To top it off, SLU loaded the bases and added the final run in the sixth inning when graduate left fielder Justin Williams was walked to first base, which led to Watts scoring the fifth run before the eighth inning.
Before Southeastern defeated Southern Miss last night in Hattiesburg, MS, the Lions kept many of their previous matchups close but struggled to close out their last four against the Golden Eagles.
Throughout their match history, the 5-1 victory for SLU resembles the first time the team lost to USM in the 2024 season, when the green and gold were defeated 5-1 in Hattiesburg after they won the first game in the last three seasons.
In conference standings, Southeastern remains in the top three, below Northwestern State (18-10, 10-5 SLC), after losing its first conference series to McNeese before sweeping UNO (12-18, 4-11 SLC).
After the Pontrachain Bowl and the upset over USM, the Lions will stay on the road to take on the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals in their next conference series that opens on Thursday, April 2, at 2:05 p.m. in San Antonio.
Fans can watch the series on ESPN+ or listen to it live on 90.9 The Lion.
For further coverage on Lions baseball, stay tuned to The Lion’s Roar.
