A six-run fifth inning by the Tulane Greenwave (17-7) was enough to stop the Lions (18-7, 6-3 SLC) from a hometown victory Tuesday.
Senior right-hander Joseph Koon started with four strong innings, giving up one run on one hit, before mustering eight hits for six runs in the top of the fifth. The Greenwave chased Koon from the game, but continued to hit even after junior right-hander Kaleb Manuel came in to stop the bleeding. After the damage was done, Koon was charged with six earned runs.
Junior second baseman Brock Hebert managed to extend his hitting streak to 19 with a single to left field in the bottom of the sixth. Hebert then stole second, and advanced to third on the wild throw by Tulane catcher Blake Crohan. Senior first baseman Jonathan Pace, who had earlier extended a hitting streak of his own to 17, hit a single to score Hebert and put the Lion’s final run on the board.
Freshman right-hander Kyle Keller contributed 1.2 innings of scoreless work to finish the game, and afterward drew praise from head coach Jay Artigues.
“Kyle doesn’t have a lot of innings this year because the guys in front of him have been throwing so well, but I really liked the way he pitched tonight,” Artigues said in an interview with lionsports.net.
Still, Artigues is content with the play throughout the season.
“This group has been really good for most of the season,” said Artigues. “They bounced back very well and won a lot of ball games, and I expect them to bounce back again.”