Lions baseball and softball won their games last week on their promotional Local Heroes Night. First responders from the firefighters, EMTs, Sherriff’s office and Hammond Police Department were able to go and enjoy themselves at both games.
“We had about 30 show up for the baseball game,” said Coordinator of Student Marketing & Promotions Lindsey Cramer. “We offered free admission to those in uniform or with valid identification and once at the gate, first responders received a free meal card from Chick-Fil-A to show our appreciation. It’s a small gesture, but we really like to be able to give back to those who work so hard in times of crisis.”
This promotion seemed to be scheduled perfectly as it happened just one week after the disastrous flooding that hit Hammond and other parts of Louisiana.
“It was really ironic that we chose this day to honor our first responders of the community due to all of the flooding, destruction and severe weather concerns throughout Louisiana that has happened within the last week,” said Cramer. “Although, the promotion was planned at the beginning of the season, it just so happened that we got the chance to take a moment to thank them for the adversities they are facing at the moment. We are proud of the work they do to keep our community and surrounding parishes safe.”
Head Baseball Coach Matt Riser was also pleased at the promotion supporting first responders.
“This is huge for us. These people do a lot behind the scenes that goes unseen,” said Coach Riser. “What they just went through with all the flooding going on they have been extremely busy. This is way for us to say ‘hey here is a bit of normalcy come out and enjoy a ballgame a little bit and get away from seeing the disaster side of things.’”
First responders stood after the national anthem as the PA announcer and the fans applaud and recognized them for their service to the community.
“As a first responder I think it is great that Southeastern would do this,” said Michael Polato volunteer for the State Fire Marshal Office. “It really shows professionalism for the first responders we had last week with the flooding. They really stepped up and helped save a lot of lives.”
The Lions baseball team (11-6, 3-0 SLU) defeated South Alabama last Tuesday 9-2. This was their fifth straight win and their fifth straight win in game against South Alabama.
The Lions had seven shutout innings through relief pitching and came back from down 2-0 in the second inning.
In the fourth inning the Lions tied the game 2-2 with two runs scored by shortstop freshman Brennan Breaud and junior first baseman Jameson Fisher.
The Lions took a commanding lead in the sixth inning and never looked back. Center fielder junior Jacob Seward made it to second base before Breaud hit a single up the middle helping Seward make the score 3-2. Fisher walked to home base and after that designated hitter senior Daniel Midyett knocked a home-run out of the park to make the score 5-2.
The Lions had three more runs in the game two of them coming in the seventh inning with 2 outs.
“Before the ballgame I didn’t think our energy was right,” said Coach Riser. “We started to go through the emotions: we just got back home, we have won for in a row so it was easy to get relax. Once we identified are problem before the game we figured out how to solve that problem.”
The Lions next game is tonight on the road against Jackson State in Jackson, Mississippi 6:00 p.m.
The Lady Lions won their doubleheader versus Southeast Missouri 7-1 in the first game and 4-3 in the second. This victory ended an eight game losing streak for the Lady Lions as their record is now (14-12, 0-3).
“I thought we came out with great intensity,” said Head Softball Coach Rick Fremin. “We had a phenomenal game plan for game one and the players executed it nearly to perfection. I was very encouraged that we completed the sweep especially after an eight game skid.”
In the first game the Lady Lions had a lead early in the first inning, but quickly lost the lead in the second inning to the Lady Redhawks 1-1. That would be the only run the Lady Redhawks would score as the game busted wide open for the Lady Lions in the fourth inning. Three errors by the Lady Redhawks led to the first three runs. Sophomore outfielder Kinsey Nichols hit a sacrifice allowing the score to be 5-1.
The Lady Lions would go on to win the first game after making two more runs.
In the second game the Lady Lions faced a more challenging game and had to persevere to victory. The Lady Redhawks jumped to a 1-3 lead in the second inning, but the Lady Lions took a bite out of the lead piece by piece.
Nichols scored from third base after brilliantly getting to the base making the score 2-3.
In the bottom of the seventh the Lady Lions loaded the bases with senior first baseman Amber Sather. She hit deep down the middle and it was enough for senior outfielder Katie Lacour to score to game-winning run.
Lady Lions next game will be at Mississippi State University tonight 5:00 p.m.