Courtesy: Southland.org http://www.southland.org Michael Choice and the Mavericks play host to Southeastern Louisiana this weekend. Both teams are tied with Texas State for a share of the conference lead.
Southeastern Louisiana, UT Arlington and Texas State are tied atop the league standings at 8-4. This weekend two of those teams meet. Southeastern Louisiana visits UT Arlington while Texas State travels to Central Arkansas. In other league action, Nicholls State is at Northwestern State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is at Lamar, UTSA is at Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State visits McNeese State.
Central Arkansas
13-12, 6-6 Southland
Central Arkansas was 1-3 last week with a 12-6 loss at No. 10 Oklahoma and a 1-2 showing at McNeese State … the Bears had 40 hits in the series and out-hit OU 14-10 … Jonathan Yerby was 7-for-17 (.462) with a home run in each game of the league series … he has a hit in his last six games and, with a .347 average, is the Bears’ second-leading hitter behind Tye Throneberry, who is batting .400 to rank seventh in the Southland … Throneberry leads the team with 34 hits and 25 RBI … Yerby is the team leader with seven home runs and six doubles … Jeremy Cloud and Bobby Pritchett share the team lead with 24 strikeouts.
Lamar
17-10, 6-6 Southland
Lamar started Southland play at 4-2, but is 2-4 in its last two series … took No. 4 Rice to extra innings before falling 9-8 in 12 … lost 2-of-3 at Southeastern Louisiana … in four games last week, Ryan Saldivar was 6-for-17 and added a double and three home runs … Tyler Link leads Lamar with a .333 batting average and seven home runs … Brian Taylor paces the squad with 25 RBI … Ricky Testa leads the squad with 40 strikeouts, while Eric Harrington is 4-0 with a league-best 1.05 ERA … Matison Smith is 4-1 with 33 strikeouts … Lamar’s 3.87 ERA and .974 fielding percentage lead the Southland.
McNeese State
13-11, 5-7 Southland
Took two of three last weekend against Central Arkansas … the Cowboys are 4-2 in their last two Southland series, having claimed 2-of-3 the week before at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi … Lee Orr, who batted 6-for-14 with seven RBI in the three games vs. UCA, tied a school record with five stolen bases in Sunday’s win … he belted two home runs in the series opener and is tied for the league lead with nine home runs … he also leads with 38 RBI, which ranks second in the Southland … Shon Landry leads the team with a .371 average … the Cowboys’ .323 team batting average ranks third in the conference.
Nicholls State
11-13, 5-7 Southland
Nicholls State is riding a four-game losing streak following a loss at Tulane and a three-game home sweep by UT Arlington … has won just once in its last seven games to follow a five-game win streak … two of the three losses to the Mavericks were by one run, including the finale, a 6-5 setback in 10 innings … Chris Murrill leads the team and is third in the Southland with a .432 batting average … he leads the league with five triples and has stolen 19-of-20 attempts … the Colonels’ 4.34 ERA is third in the league, but its .280 batting average and .950 fielding percentage rank 11th and 12th in the league, respectively.
Northwestern State
12-11, 6-5 Southland
Northwestern State snapped a five-game losing streak with a 9-6 win in the series opener at Sam Houston State … took 2-of-3 games from the Bearkats in Huntsville with the one-run loss coming in 11 innings … Justin O’Neal was the Southland Hitter of the Week after batting .722 in four games … he tied career highs with four hits in the final two games of the series and tied a career high with four RBI on Sunday … he hit 11-for-14 with two doubles, a home run, six RBI and scored six runs in the weekend series … Chase Lyles is the team leader with a .368 batting average and his nine home runs are tied for the league lead.
Sam Houston State
15-10, 6-6 Southland
Through the first two conference series, Sam Houston State led the league with a 5-1 record, but in the two series since, it has gone 1-5 … Nick Zaleski leads the Southland with a .459 batting average … he’s batting .479 in conference play … Zaleski is tied for the conference lead with12 doubles and is tied for second with 45 hits … he ranks fourth with 34 RBI and is fifth in total bases … Sam Houston State’s .326 team batting average is the best in the Southland … Matt Shelton is 4-0 with one save and a 1.86 ERA in 10 appearances, all in relief … Dallas Gallant leads the team with 32 strikeouts.
Southeastern Louisiana
17-9, 8-4 Southland
After losing its first series 2-1 at UTSA, Southeastern Louisiana has swept McNeese State and has taken 2-of-3 against Central Arkansas and Lamar to move into a first-place tie in the Southland with UT Arlington and Texas State … Joe Sparacino was 10-of-16 (.625) in five games last week … Cass Hargis leads the Lions with 39 hits and a .355 batting average … Brandon Street is the team leader with four home runs and 29 RBI … three Lions have hit nine doubles … Brandon Efferson’s 39 strikeouts rank fifth in the Southland … team is batting .313 and has an ERA of 5.86 … Chris Franklin leads the league with six saves.
Stephen F. Austin
8-16, 3-8 Southland
Stephen F. Austin snapped a four-game losing streak with a 7-4 win at Texas State on Sunday … snapped an eight-game losing streak March 18 at Houston Baptist and then won four consecutive, including two against HBU and two against Nicholls State … lost 2-of-3 at Texas State, a week after taking 2-of-3 from the Colonels … Sean Meyers is batting .420, which ranks fourth in the Southland … he also leads the team with 37 hits, eight doubles, three home runs and 23 RBI … he is batting .405 in league play to rank sixth … SFA’s 5.24 ERA ranks fifth in the Southland … the Jacks’ .278 batting average is 12th in the league.
UT Arlington
15-11, 8-4 Southland
UT Arlington has won three in a row and 9-of-10 … Michael Choice was 8-for-17 (.471) with a double, triple and home run in four games last week … was 6-for-14 in the sweep of Nicholls State … Matt Otteman leads the Southland with 50 hits and 80 total bases … he ranks third in RBI and paces the team with a .459 batting average, which ranks second in the Southland … Nathan Long, this week’s Southland Pitcher of the Week, has 50 strikeouts to pace the league … he fanned 15 last Saturday at Nicholls State and struck out 10 vs. Northwestern State the week before … Long’s 2.81 ERA is third in the league.
UTSA
15-10, 7-5 Southland
UTSA had a five-game win streak snapped by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last Saturday … the Islanders took 2-of-3 from the Roadrunners in San Antonio … Marshal Davis had three consecutive multi-hit games last weekend with a career-high four RBI in Friday’s victory over A&M-Corpus Christi … he was 7-for-17 (.412) last week with a home run in the series finale … his 431 average in league games ranks third in the Southland … Jose Hernandez leads the team with a .391 batting average, which ranks ninth in the league … his 74 total bases rank third … Red Patterson’s 41 strikeouts rank second in the league.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
11-18, 3-9 Southland
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has won four of its last five games including 2-of-3 last weekend at UTSA … Jonathan Reyes, who missed the first 20 games of the season, was 10-for-21 (.476) and scored nine runs while driving in five games last week … in the finale at UTSA, drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning to cap a four-hit, four-run, three-RBI day … Reyes is batting .412 in nine games … Jacob Perales leads those players with at least 2.5 at bats per game with his .356 batting average … Martin Parra is fifth in the league with 30 RBI … Trey Hernandez has nine home runs to lead the team and league.
Texas State
16-9, 8-4 Southland
Texas State is tied with two other teams atop the Southland standings at 8-4 … had a six-game win streak snapped in the finale of the Stephen F. Austin series last weekend … Spenser Dennis was 15-of-23 (.652) in five games last week … he scored nine runs and drove in five … he was 7-for-8 in a 33-3 win over Prairie View … Bobcats also beat Texas Tech last week … Keith Prestridge leads the team and is sixth in the Southland with his .406 batting average … Texas State ranks second in team batting (.324), fourth in team ERA (5.13) and second in team fielding (.971) … Paul Goldschmidt leads the Southland with 40 RBI.
