The Lions were coming off of a hot run before going up against the Tulane Green Wave in a pair of matches last week. Jordan Hymel had pitched the fifth no-hitter in Lions history and the teams’ morale was through the roof.
However, the Lions (11-6) went out with a strong fight in the set against Tulane University (10-9) on Wednesday, March 13, and they fell to third in the Southland Conference standings. It started with the Lions at the Pat Kenelly Diamond Tuesday, March 12 and starting pitcher freshman Kyle Cedotal did his best to keep Tulane’s runs at bay, senior pitcher Kaleb Manuel and freshman pitcher Mason Klotz stepped up to save the team. Tuesday night the Lions came from behind with a 7-4 win against the Tulane Green Wave.
In an interview with lionsports.net head coach Jay Artigues complimented how well the team has handled the tough competition.
“Guys have done a great job,” Artigues said. “We’ve played a real challenging schedule, but the guys are responding with a lot of wins and that’s what’s important.”
Senior Ben Hernandez allowed for the Lions to come back from the 4-2 drag in the sixth inning with a two-out walk and gave them five runs. Junior Jesse Buratt and sophomore Sam Roberson each gave a pair of singles, but it was senior outfielder Harry Slade who hit a single bringing in Roberson and Buratt from the bases and gave the Lions their first lead of the night.
On Wednesday, the Lions faced the Green Wave at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, but the drive from the night before was lost. The 3-2 loss came after ten innings even though the Lions did have a 2-1 lead at the sixth inning.
To catch the Lions in action they have a triple set this weekend until Sunday, March 17. They take on the Arkansas Pine-Bluff. All three games will be played at the Pat Kenelly Diamond. Friday the game begins at 6 p.m., on Saturday the first pitch is thrown at 2 p.m. and on Sunday the Lions start at 1 p.m.