Box Score

HAMMOND – Playing in the final game of her career, Southeastern Louisiana senior Heather Sherrill became the first student-athlete in program history with 200 career hits and the Lady Lion softball team held off a late rally to earn a 5-4 Senior Day victory over Southland Conference foe UT Arlington in the Lady Lions' season finale Sunday afternoon at North Oak Park.

The Lady Lions finished the season with a 20-33 overall mark and an 8-22 SLC record. UTA, which will compete in next weekend's SLC Tournament, dropped to 23-22 overall and 17-13 in SLC play.

Sherrill and fellow senior Allyson McCubbins each closed out their respective careers with strong performances. Sherrill was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a run scored. McCubbins reached base all four times she came to the plate, going 1-for-1 with an RBI double and three walks.

Sherrill finished as the school's career leader in five categories – hits, RBI (117), doubles (53), extra-base hits (76) and total bases (320). McCubbins also made her mark in the school's record book, drawing a single-season school record 34 walks this season and finishing her career with 78 walks – also a school record.

“We're very pleased to be able to send out two special student-athletes out with a victory,” Southeastern head coach Pete Langlois commented. “Heather and Allyson have both been great, All-Conference caliber performers during their time here and will definitely be missed.”

In the circle, freshman Katelyn Thomason (7-11) hurled a complete-game to earn the victory for Southeastern. The Spring, Texas native ran into some trouble in the bottom of the seventh inning, but was able to maintain the lead and secure the victory.

Southeastern staked Thomason to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning off UTA starter Heather Fortenberry (7-7). Singles by freshman Jordan Logan and Sherrill, along with a walk by sophomore Tamra Ladnier loaded the bases with nobody out.

Sophomore Katie Duhe plated Logan with a sacrifice fly. Fortenberry then issued consecutive two out walks to McCubbins and junior Chelsea Takacs with Takacs' free pass forcing in Ladnier and giving the Lady Lions a 2-0 lead.

UTA cut into the lead in the top of the second. Brittany Washington reached on a one-out single, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Kelsey Kaiser to bring the Lady Mavs within one, 2-1.

The Lady Lions got the run back in the bottom of the second inning. Thomason reached on a two-base error by Washington to lead off the frame. One out later, Sherrill ripped an RBI double to score Thomason to put Southeastern up, 3-1.

Both teams threatened in their next plate appearances but the score remained the same until the Lady Lions padded their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, freshman Meghan Gomez singled to give Southeastern its first base runner of the frame. McCubbins then battled to a 3-2 count, fouled off three pitches then ripped a double into the left field corner to score Gomez and put Southeastern ahead, 4-1.

Southeastern added to its lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sherrill led off the inning with a double and the 200th hit of her Lady Lion career. Duhe then followed with a double of her own to almost the same exact spot as Sherrill's two-bagger to score Sherrill and give Southeastern a 5-1 edge.

UTA would not go down without a fight, however, mounting a two-out rally in the top of the seventh inning. Samantha Chumchal singled and Thomason walked Whitney Simpson to put runners on first and second.

Rebecca Collom then cleared the bases and cut the Southeastern lead to one with a three-run shot over the right centerfield fence. After Cara Hulme singled to put the tying run on first, Thomason forced Erica LeFlore to fly out to end the contest.

Sherrill finished the season with a team-high .323 batting average and 51 hits, while sharing the team lead with Duhe with 14 doubles each. Gomez ended her first collegiate season on top of the squad with eight home runs, 24 RBI and 23 runs scored. Southeastern's team fielding percentage of .960 also tied a single-season school record.