SAN ANTONIO — Brandon Efferson tossed a three-hit shutout and struck out nine to lead Southeastern Louisiana to a 6-0 victory against UTSA on Friday night at Roadrunner Field. The contest was the Southland Conference opener for both clubs.
The Lions improved to 10-4 on the year, while the Roadrunners (6-10) lost for the sixth time in their last eight outings.
Efferson (3-0) walked just one and he retired 13 consecutive hitters to close out the 102-pitch gem.
Southeastern Louisiana pushed across their first run in the third inning. After being hit by a Walton fastball, Trey Martin stole second and later scored on a run-scoring single by Justin Boudreaux.
The Lions added tacked on a pair in the fifth when Jeff Harkensee brought home two with a double to the gap in left center.
Senior Taylor Walton (2-2) was saddled with the loss after allowing three runs on six hits and four walks in five innings of work.
Southeastern added three more runs two innings later to put the game out of reach.
A perfectly-executed squeeze bunt by Josh Cryer brought in Jonathan Pace with one out. Three batters later, Brock Hebert lined a two-run single to center to cap the scoring.
UTSA threatened in the fifth when junior Matthew James hit a one-out triple and redshirt freshman RJ Perucki drew a two-out walk. However, Efferson induced a Riley Good ground out to keep UTSA off the board.
Good led off the contest with a single up the middle and junior Casey Selsor notched the Birds' only other hit for UTSA in the second whe he stroked a one-out double to left center.
Harkensee fueled the Lions 11-hit attack with three knocks and a pair of RBIs, while Pace, Boudreaux and Cryer each registered a pair of hits.
The series continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
