Lions in Jeopardy after Thursday's Losses
Brendon Smith • May 9, 2025
Brennan Stuprich gets the start in what will likely be his last game in Pat Kenelly. Photo by Liam Adamson of SLU Athletics
Although Lions Baseball can still share the conference with UTRGV by earning 2 more wins or having McNeese lose 2 more times, all this accomplishes is the regular season title and the number one seed. Southeastern would still need to battle through the tournament and almost certainly win the whole thing to make the NCAA playoffs.
As much as Southland has advocated for itself to be a two-bid conference, you can’t leave things open for chance, especially after Lamar was excluded from the tournament last year, even after an incredible 44-15 season.
Even though the game was non-televised the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee almost certainly saw the result of the 13-0 loss for SLU, and even with two close losses with ranked Southern Miss, a 2-1 series win against UTRGV and only one lost conference series, the committee will throw that all out of the window if they believe SLU doesn’t deserve the bid over other teams.
While Baseball is backed into a corner so is softball as after a close game that ended 2-1, SLU needs to win both consecutive games to win the series and clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
McNeese has had SLU’s number all year as even though the Lady Lions took the first game in a softball double header against the Cowgirls April 4, McNeese still took the series outscoring Southeastern 12 to 8 in the last two games.
While like in baseball SLU can certainly trust in the good faith of the selection committee, it is best to take things into your own hands and get to the post season on your own efforts.
Southeastern will play Nicholls in baseball again Saturday in a doubleheader starting at 1 PM, while softball will play McNeese for the 2nd game of the Southland Conference Championship at 6 PM today.
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Twenty years ago, the city of New Orleans was forever changed. The "Rebirth" game when the Superdome reopened after Hurricane Katrina was more than a football game already. However, when Steve Gleason blocked the first punt of the game and it was returned for a touchdown, everyone in the building knew it was over.
BATON ROUGE -- No. 11 LSU did exactly what it was supposed to do Saturday night — and then some. The Tigers dominated McNeese from the opening whistle, rolling to a 63-14 victory inside Tiger Stadium while putting together one of the most productive offensive performances in school history. LSU finished with 731 yards of total offense , the second-most in a single game in program history. The Tigers also ran 101 offensive plays, setting a new school record. For head coach Lane Kiffin, though, the night was about more than piling up points against an FCS opponent. Kiffin Wants LSU Playing Its Standard LSU led 35-0 at halftime and had every reason to take its foot off the gas. Kiffin chose not to. When asked about using a running clock in the second half, Kiffin said LSU needed to continue playing its game. “You play the game and we decide when the game’s over, by the way that we play, and how physical that we play,” Kiffin said. That mentality showed up throughout the night. Even with the game firmly in hand, LSU continued to play with energy and gave plenty of younger players valuable snaps. Kiffin said the number of plays was particularly important because the Tigers will need that depth during the stretch ahead. “A lot of snaps for guys,” Kiffin said. “The goal was to get (that up) to evaluate those guys because they are going to need to play with the injuries we have down the stretch.” Offense Finds Plenty of Contributors Quarterback Sam Leavitt completed 18 of 23 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns, while Corey Barber Jr. caught two touchdown passes. The running game was just as impressive. Harlem Berry rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown, while Stacy Gage added 110 yards and two touchdowns. Five different Tigers — Berry, Dilin Jones, Gage, Landen Clark and freshman defensive tackle Deuce Geralds — scored rushing touchdowns. Geralds' touchdown was particularly memorable. Kiffin joked afterward that he had checked with LSU historian and former Tiger Anthony “Booger” McFarland to determine whether anyone had previously recorded a sack and offensive touchdown in the same game. Kiffin said Geralds now holds the record outright. After a 35-6 victory over Texas A&M last week, LSU has now put together back-to-back dominant performances. The competition gets much tougher from here. But Saturday night showed that LSU has plenty of players capable of making plays — and Kiffin is making sure they understand the standard doesn't change simply because the opponent does. LSU is 4-1 and now turns its attention to Kentucky next Saturday on the road.