TURNING TWO—Southeastern second baseman Jordan D’Arensbourg watches as shortstop Ty Summerlin makes the throw to first after forcing out Texas State’s Jonathan Farrow. Summerlin and D’Arensbourg will return next season as the Lions are set to bring back most of their position players next season after posting its second-straight 30-plus win season. John Lenz/Daily Star

Southeastern head baseball coach Jay Artigues looks at his team's run to the final day of the Southland Conference Tournament as a stepping stone or another benchmark of the program's success.

The Lions fell to eventual tournament runner-up Lamar in the semifinal round last Saturday, ending Southeastern's season with a 32-27 record. Southeastern won 30 or more games for the second-straight year in Artigues' third year at the helm, but now Artigues must retool his team in the offseason.

"I thought the kids played well all year," Artigues said. "Back-to-back 30-plus win seasons, and getting to where we did in the conference tournament is just setting the table where we're trying to get the program."

The team turned a corner during the home stretch of the regular season, Artigues said. They played with more confidence as they clinched the No. 7 seed in the SLC tournament, and stepped it up as they made their run in the conference tournament.

"Talent-wise, I think we have a great chance to contend now," Artigues said. "We had some really big wins. Hopefully, instead of contending to get to point where we were this season, it's contending to get that No. 1 seed next year. Every year, i think you have to to take those steps progressively and the kids are starting to expect that and understand that."

A major area of retooling for the Lions is the pitching staff, which is scheduled to lose senior hurlers Josh Black and Amite's Brent Varnado while Loranger's Wade Miley is expected to forego his senior year after the MLB Amateur Draft June 5-6.

The Lions addressed that issue during the early signing period. Five of the eight players signed so far are either exclusively pitchers or utility players such as Ponchatoula pitcher/catcher Torin Lucas and juco pitcher/infielder Chris Franklin.

"We signed some guys we feel really excited about, but obviously as new guys they've got to come in and prove they can do it at the Division I level."

Artigues said Southeastern will return the majority of its position players next season, including Ty Summerlin, Brandon Street, Josh Cryer and Cass Hargis. The Lions are also in the market to add more pop in its lineup next season, and Artigues looks for some of the signees to add that pop.

"We signed a couple of guys we really liked offensively. Some guys that can really hit the ball out of the ball park," he said. "We did sign a couple of guys we feel good about and hopefully give us some more power in our lineup."

Any other additions Southeastern makes to the program will have to be done more carefully as new restrictions come into play for next season.

"You can't miss now in recruiting," Artigues said. "You're limiting your roster to a certain number of kids now. It's going to limit the opportunities for other kids you normally take a chance on and develop for a year or two."

The NCAA Board of Directors approved rule changes that will go in effect for the 2008-09 season, including capping rosters at 35 players with only 27 receiving scholarship aid. In addition, each scholarship player must receive at least one-third of a full scholarship.

NCAA's funding limit for baseball scholarships is 11.7.

"It's going to give even more room for parity," Artigues said. "I know there's a tremendous amount now, but it's going to be even more so in the future."