On Deck - #29 Lions vs Jackson State

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#29 SLU Lions (7-0, 0-0) vs. Jackson State Tigers (1-4, 0-0)
Alumni Field, Hammond, LA
6:00 PM Tuesday March 2

Coming off of one of their most impressive weekend series in school history, the #29 ranked SLU Lions will face Jackson State at Alumni Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00pm. The Lions swept Mississippi State on the road in Starkville, MS to earn their first ever sweep over a SEC school. With the sweep the Lions moved to 7-0 on the season and are ranked #29 by Collegiate Baseball News.

Jackson State, who is 1-4 on the season, split their two games over the weekend in the JSU tournament. The Tigers beat Texas Southern 7-2 and lost to Mississippi Valley State 11-6. Jackson State, representing the SWAC, is lead at the plate by Chad Hall (.444, 2B, 4 RBI, and 3 SB) and Cortez Cole (.438, 3B, and 6 SB) The Tigers have stolen 18 bases in 19 attempts. Leading pitchers for the Tigers, who have a 6.80 team ERA, are Cortney Nelson (1-0, 2.84) and James Flowers (0-0, 4.00).

Leading the way for SLU over the weekend was a pitching staff that keep the Bulldogs off balance at the plate. Tyler Watkins pitched a gem on Friday night as went 7.1 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits. Watkins fanned 4 Bulldogs. All-American closer Chris Franklin pitched 1.2 innings in relief to earn the win. Brandon Efferson was he usually smooth self on Saturday as he threw 6 strong innings surrendering 9 hits and striking out 7. Justin Schneider came in to earn the save. On Sunday Josh Janway came in to pitch 4.2 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. Once again Franklin came in to shut the door on the Bulldog power hitters to earn his second save of the season. With the save Franklin ties Chris Province as the schools at time career leader.

At the plate the Lions were led by Chad Gough-Fortenberry who hit .714 on the weekend going 5-7 with 2 RBI and a run scored. Justin Boudreaux and Jeff Harkensee each picked up 2 hits on Saturday and Sunday. Cody Gougler was 2-5 with 2 runs scored on Sunday and launched a solo homerun on Friday night.

The top hitters on the season for the Lions are Gough-Fortenberry (.462), Harkensee (.429), and Boudreaux (.385). SLU is hitting .308 as a team.