Over his final two years of high school, Southeastern Louisiana University freshman catcher and 2009 Northshore graduate Chad Gough-Fortenberry received numerous accolades.

Now he has his first in college. Only about two weeks into his initial college baseball season, Gough-Fortenberry has been named the Louisiana Baseball Hitter of the Week by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Gough-Fortenberry has helped lead the Lions to a 9-0 mark at press time. Last weekend, they took all three games over Mississippi State University in Starkville. It was the first sweep of a Southeastern Conference team in the school’s history.

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For the week, Gough-Fortenberry hit .556 with two runs batted in and he tallied twice. Last Friday, he went 2-for-3 with a run scored during a 4-1 victory.

Then on Sunday, Gough-Fortenberry had three hits and drove in two runs in a 6-5 victory. In that contest, SLU trailed 5-4 after seven, but tallied twice in the eighth to grab the win 6-5.

“It’s pretty good because I was struggling in the beginning,” Gough-Fortenberry said. “I didn’t get a hit until the third game. My bat got hot like it usually does. I picked out some good pitches to hit and that helped.”

Gough-Fortenberry started the season 1-for-6, but began to heat up in the opener against MSU. He was five for his last 10 heading into this weekend’s series with Texas Southern.

Heading into Friday’s game, Gough-Fortenberry was leading the Lions with a .565 on base percentage in six games played, all starts. He was third in hitting at .375. Gough-Fortenberry had driven in three runs and scored four and has played errorless defensively with 33 chances.

Gough-Fortenberry said part of the turnaround is learning to be more patient at the plate.

“They told me that in college, they miss their spot one out of every 5-7 pitches,” Gough-Fortenberry said. “So you have to be a patient hitter. You have to work the pitch count and wait for your pitch and hit it. If you miss that one, you have to work that much harder to get that pitch.”

At Northshore, Gough-Fortenberry went out with a bang, helping the Panthers win the state title with a 34-2 mark. Last season, he was hit 16 home runs and drove in 38. He was named the District 7-5A Most Valuable Player, the state tournament’s MVP and he was an all-state selection.

Gough-Fortenberry was also a first-team all-district player in his junior year.

Gough-Fortenberry has a reminder of Northshore every time he puts on the Lions’ jersey. He wears No. 37 because of Ned Eades, a former Northshore coach for which the field is named. Ned passed away Sept. 18, 2004, of lymphoma cancer. Ned’s widowed wife Marian is the school’s softball coach and her children Ryan and Chris play for the Panthers’ baseball team.

“I picked No. 37 because I know Ms. Marian, Ryan and Chris would like me to wear it,” he said. “No. 1 (his high school number) was taken, so I thought long and hard about it and I picked No. 37 to honor Ms. Marian’s husband and Ryan and Chris’ father.”

Gough-Fortenberry’s former high school coach Rick Mauldin said he and Gough-Fortenberry talk all of the time. Mauldin’s been to two games and Gough-Fortenberry played in both.

“It’s not surprising,” Mauldin said. “Southeastern did a great job of recruiting Chad. Southeastern should be proud. He’s loved all three coaches (headman Jay Artigues and assistants Justin Hill and Matt Riser). It tells you a lot about college recruiting. You don’t have to be the best to get the best, but the best will make you better.”

Mauldin also said the Gough-Fortenberry’s had an impact on their start.

Also playing a role in SLU’s strong start is 2009 Slidell High graduate Chad Livingston.

He’s seen limited playing time, but came through in a big spot during the Lions’ season opener against Eastern Illinois.

In his first ever collegiate at bat, Livingston came up as a pinch hitter with two outs and got his first college hit, driving in a run to cap a 3-run eighth inning rally. In that game, the Lions were down 5-1 after seven innings, but won 6-5 with two in the ninth, scoring five runs over the final two innings.

Livingston has played in six games and started two. He’s driven in three runs, while posting a .429 on base percentage.

This afternoon, the Lions will complete a 3-game series against Texas Southern with the first pitch scheduled for 1. They travel to Southern Tuesday before returning home for a three-game set against conference foe the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners Friday to Sunday.�