| Sophomore Casey Selsor reached base two times in his four plate appearances on Saturday. |
HAMMOND, La. — No. 26 Southeastern Louisiana got two-out, run-scoring hits from Cody Gougler and Justin Boudreaux in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, and a pair of Lions hurlers shut out UTSA on just four safeties in a 2-0 victory on Saturday at Alumni Field.
Southeastern won for the 14th time in 15 outings this spring, while the Roadrunners (7-6) lost for the sixth time in their last eight contests.
The Lions got on the board in the fourth when Boudreaux led off the frame with a single through the left side of the infield and he moved up a base on Jeff Harkansee's grounder to second. A Josh Cryer base hit through the left side moved him up to third and Boudreaux came home on Gougler's two-out double to left center.
That turned out to be all the offense SLU would need, but it went ahead and tacked on an insurance run for good measure in the fifth.
Chris Franklin was hit by a pitch to start the inning and he was sacrificed to second by Phillip Freeman. Cass Hargis drew a walk two batters later and Boudreaux followed with a liner to left that plated the second and final run of the day.
Right-hander Brandon Efferson (4-0) picked up the win after blanking the Birds on just four hits in his seven innings of work. He walked one and fanned a pair in the 95-pitch (60 strikes) performance. Just three UTSA base runners reached scoring position and none got past second base.
Josh Janway, who entered the game to start the eighth, allowed the first two hitters he faced to reach base (via walk and an error), but he went on to retire the final six Roadrunners he faced, including striking out the side in his opening frame, for his fourth save of the spring.
Meanwhile, southpaw starter Matt Crocker (2-1) was the hard-luck loser for UTSA. The Kingwood native allowed a pair of runs on a half dozen hits and two walks, while striking out four. Junior righty Mike Pierce blanked the Lions over the final two innings.
Boudreaux was 2-for-4 to lead Southeastern at the plate, while sophomore Casey Selsor had a double and walked in his four plate appearances. Senior Ryan Rummel and freshmen Ryan Dalton and Jake Wood had the Birds' only other hits.
The weekend series concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday.