Southeastern-MVSU Box Score
Southestern-JSU Box Score

HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana sophomore pitcher Katelyn Thomason threw the third no-hitter in school history to highlight day one action at the Lion Softball Classic on Friday at North Oak Park.

Thomason (2-1), a Spring, Texas native, struck out 11 and walked just two as the Lady Lions defeated Mississippi Valley State, 4-0, in the opening game of the day. Her no-hitter was the first complete-game no-hitter by a Lady Lion since Tammy Landry no-hit MVSU in 1997. Senior shortstop Amber Freeman provided Thomason with the run support with a home run and three runs batted in.

In the second game of the day, Farren Wright and Wendi Reed had two hits apiece to lead Jackson State past the Lady Lions, 3-1. Junior Tamra Ladnier singled and drove in a run for the Lady Lions in the loss.

In the day's other action, UT Martin picked up wins over Grambling (9-0) and Mississippi Valley State (8-3). St. Louis was too much for Grambling (1-0) and Jackson State (6-2).

Southeastern will face Grambling at 1:30 p.m. and St. Louis at 4 p.m. tomorrow as the Lion Classic continues.

Game One – Southeastern 4, Mississippi Valley State 0
Neither team could get anything going offensively until Southeastern broke through in the fifth against MVSU pitcher Kendra Spivey. Thomason helped her own cause with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Chelsea Takacs. After replacing Thomason as a pinch runner, sophomore Casey Simpson advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Freeman.

Meanwhile, Thomason was toying with the MVSU lineup. After giving up a walk in each of the first two innings, she retired the final 16 batters of the game. Combined with her four innings of no-hit relief at Southern on Wednesday, Thomason has not allowed a hit in 11 straight innings pitched.

Southeastern put the game away in the top of the seventh. Thomason again led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Takacs. Freeman followed with a towering home run just inside the left field foul line that pushed the lead to 3-0.

With two outs, junior Bailey Zievert, junior Katie Duhe and Ladnier collected consecutive singles with Ladnier's single scoring pinch runner Michelle Duhe and pushing the lead to 4-0.

Thomason's no-hit bid got its biggest threat in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, Ta'Niya Wallace blooped a shot into short centerfield and sophomore Jordan Logan saved the no-hit bid with a diving catch. Thomason then forced Jasmine Wilson to hit a pop up that junior Heather Grivas pulled in to close the historic performance.

Game Two – Jackson State 3, Southeastern Louisiana 1
Southeastern senior Catherine Gunther and JSU pitcher Brittany Talley were mired in a pitcher's duel until JSU broke through in the fourth. Wright reached on a one out single and then scored when Reed tripled off the top of the centerfield fence. Reed would then score when a bloop single by Talley fell between Logan and Katie Duhe in shallow right field.

Southeastern cut the lead in half in the sixth. Katie Duhe led the inning off with a double down the left field line and then scored when Ladnier followed with a sharp single up the middle. Talley retired the next three Lady Lions to keep the lead at 2-1.

Jackson State got the run back in its half of the sixth. Wright led off the inning with a double and scored on an RBI single by Delyse Montgomery to put JSU back up by two.

Thomason drew a pinch hit walk to lead off the seventh, but that was all the threat Southeastern could manage as Talley completed a four-hitter.