Southeastern baseball coach Jay Artigues spent a long time in a very animated "chat" with his team in the outfield following Saturday's 11-0 loss to Texas State.

After one inning on Sunday, it was clear that the Lions were paying attention to his sermon.

But tonight against cross-lake rival Tulane, Artigues will want to know if the tide has turned for his team's offense, or if Sunday's eruption was a one-game deal.

After being held to one hit over seven innings on Saturday, the Lions exploded for eight first-inning runs on Sunday. More importantly, they never let up or relaxed as they rolled to a 16-9 victory to win their Southland Conference series two games to one.

"That was big for us," Artigues said. "We really have been emphasizing to our players the importance of staying aggressive and trying to take control of the game early. We did that today."

The victory allowed the Lions (18-15, 8-7 SLC) to take advantage of the weekend help provided by Sam Houston - which swept first-place Lamar - and Texas-San Antonio - which broomed second-place Northwestern State.

The Lions are still third in the SLC East, but they're now just 1 1/2 games back of Northwestern State and two behind Lamar.

Looming ahead is a conference road series at Central Arkansas. But first, there's significant midweek business to attend to as the Lions travel to Tulane (24-11-1) at 6 p.m. in Turchin Stadium (KSLU, 90.9-FM).

As always, it's a midweek series with a little juice behind it. It's the rubber match of the Senator's Cup series with the Green Wave, with both games so far decided by one run. Tulane won the first meeting 4-3 in 12 innings back on Feb. 23 at the new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium - after a throwing error on what would have been the final out in the ninth inning allowed Tulane to escape a 3-2 loss - and the Lions claimed a 12-11 decision on March 25 before a big crowd at Alumni Field.

Artigues admits this one's more than just your typical mid-week matchup.

"Going over there and playing those guys with the Senator's Cup on the line is a big opportunity for us," Artigues said. "Last year we beat them two out of three, and I think we've beaten them three of the last five times we played them. We want to do it again."

It's also a golden chance to test some less-proven players under live fire. In this case, Artigues wants to take a long look at Chris Cappo in a starting role. (1-0, 2.42). Cappo, who has been used mostly in relief this season, will make his third start of the season. He also started last week at Alabama, but that was pre-designated as a one-inning stint.

Tonight, Artigues would like to stretch him out, with an eye on the end of the season.

"We're going to need a fourth starter come postseason," Artigues said. "We're going to run Chris Cappo out there and also work Rene Leblanc.

"Chris Cappo's fastball explodes on hitters, and he's got that second pitch coming along, a breaking ball. If he can show he can command his pitches, he has a chance to be that other starter we're looking for."

Artigues was glad to have Josh Cryer back in the lineup after an early-season injury for the Texas State series, but he wants to go easy on Cryer, who went 4-for-10 with four RBI in the Texas State series.

"We're going to rest Cryer's leg, so it will give some of those other guys a chance for them to show what they can do," Artigues said. "That's important because we're going to need more than the nine guys on the field. You're going to need the entire 25-man team to come through at some point."

Cappo will be tested by a Tulane team that carries a .289 team batting average, compared to SLU's .270. The Green Wave is led by five hitters batting over .300 - Jared Dyer (.345, 4 HR, 23 RBI), Seth Henry (.341, 4 HR, 37 RBI), Aja Barto (.317,), Warren McFadden (.307) and Anthony Scelfo (.303, 6 HR, 35 RBI).

The Lions return home Wednesday to host Mississippi Valley State at 6:30 p.m. at Alumni Field.

@Agate:Southeastern 16, Texas St. 9

Leadoff man Cass Hargis launched his team-best fifth home run and second grand slam of the season to cap off the Lions' eight-run first inning that pinned the first loss of the season on Bobcats starter Zack Tritz (6-1).

Josh Cryer (3-for-3) and Xavier Qualls (4-for-6) had four RBI apiece and Matthew Schexnayder went 5-for-5 and drove in two more runs as the Lions banged out a season-high 21 hits - one day after getting just one in the entire game.

The Bobcats, the top-hitting team in the SLC at .350, did some damage against Lions ace Wade Miley with a pair of runs in the second, two more in the third and one in the fourth. But Ryan Collins (5-2) came on in relief, and aided by three-run Lion innings in the fifth and sixth, held the Bobcats down long enough to record the win. Collins pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits and five walks.

Paul Goldschmidt, the SLC leader with 12 home runs, and Jason Martinson each had two-run homers for Texas State (18-12, 10-5).