Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana freshman Kelsey Nichols homered and had three hits, but Northwestern State freshmen Kylie Roos and Brooke Boening each threw complete-game three hitters to sweep a Southland Conference softball doubleheader from the Lady Lions Saturday afternoon at North Oak Park.

Southeastern (9-23, 2-13 Southland) had its four-game winning streak snapped with the losses. Northwestern State improved to 19-18 overall and 6-11 in league play.

In the opener, Nichols hit her second home run of the season, but NSU collected 15 hits in a 7-1 victory. In the nightcap, Boening (7-6) outdueled Lady Lion freshman Kati Morse (1-7) in a 2-0 win.

The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 12 p.m.

Game One – Northwestern State 7, Southeastern Louisiana 1
Northwestern State jumped out to an early lead against Southeastern senior starter Catherine Gunther (0-5) in the top of the first inning. Senior Randi Stuard, who was 4-for-4 in the opener, led off the game with a single and stole second. After Gunther retired the next two batters, sophomore Samantha Roberts hit a shot deep in the hole that scooted under the glove of Lady Lion junior Katie Duhe, allowing Stuard to score the game's first run.

A single by freshman Ashleigh Kuhn and a throwing error by sophomore Jordan Logan put runners at second and third. Freshman Ashlee England then cleared the bases with a double into the left centerfield gap to put NSU up, 3-0.

The Lady Lions threatened in the bottom of the first inning. Singles by Logan and sophomore Meghan Gomez, followed by a walk issued to sophomore Katelyn Thomason loaded the bases with one out. Duhe followed with a fly out to right and Kuhn gunned Logan trying to score from third.

Gunther and Roos (9-8) settled down after that before the Lady Lions cut into the lead in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Nichols powered a home run over the left field fence to pull Southeastern within two at 3-1.

Northwestern State got the run back in the top of the fifth inning. Singles by Stuard and junior Kayla Cole, followed by a Roberts walk loaded the bases with one out. Gunther recovered to retire Kuhn, but then walked England to force in a run and put the Lady Demons up, 4-1.

The Lady Demons put the game out of reach in the top of the sixth inning with a two-out rally. RBI singles by senior Stormi Stech, Roberts and Kuhn put NSU up, 7-1. Roos sat Southeastern down in order in the final two innings to finish out the victory.

Game Two – Northwestern State 2, Southeastern Louisiana 0
An error and two walks loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first inning. Morse battled back to retire Kuhn and England to keep the Lady Demons off the board. The opening inning set a tone for the first four innings, as Boening and Morse kept the opposing offenses off the board and the two teams combined to leave 12 runners on base.

Northwestern State broke the tie in the top of the fifth inning. Stech led off the inning with a double to right field and Thomason booted it, allowing Stech to advance to third. Stech would later score on a sacrifice fly by Roberts to give NSU a 1-0 advantage.

Southeastern threatened in the bottom of the fifth. Nichols walked and Gomez reached on an error by Stech to put runners at first and second with two outs. However, Boening forced Thomason to ground out to end the inning.

Heads up base running allowed NSU to double its lead in the top of the sixth inning. With a runner on second and one out, junior Taywanee Edmonds hit a single to right and took a big turn at first. Edmonds avoided the Southeastern rundown long enough for sophomore Tiffany Ward to race home and put the Lady Demons ahead, 2-0. For the day, Morse scattered six hits in 5.2 innings of work.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Duhe reached on a Stech error to lead off the frame. Two wild pitches and two outs later, Duhe sat at third. However, Boening struck out sophomore Lauren Coniglio to keep the Lady Lions off the board.

Senior Amber Freeman drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, but Boening retired Logan, Nichols and Gomez to complete the shutout.