Box Score

HAMMOND – Behind two home runs from junior Meghan Gomez and a second straight stellar start by sophomore Kenna Terry, the Southeastern Louisiana softball team took a 4-1 victory over UTSA in the rubber game of a Southland Conference series Sunday afternoon at North Oak Park.

The win allowed Southeastern (16-19, 6-9 Southland) to reach the midway point of the league schedule with twice as many Southland wins as they had the entire 2010 campaign. The series win over UTSA (17-22, 9-12 Southland) was the program's first since 2001.

Gomez finished the day with four RBI after posting the 10th multi-homer game in school history. Gomez, who had been battling a slump, is the first Lady Lion to hit two home runs in a game since she first accomplished the feat in a 15-2 win over Northwestern State on March 28, 2009.

“Meghan's been struggling at the plate a little lately, but give her credit for working hard every day at practice to fight her way out of it,” Southeastern head coach Pete Langlois said. “She's been our leading home run hitter each of the past two seasons, so it's no surprise to us when she produces big for us.

“What's really been encouraging is that we've had different people stepping up in each win,” Langlois said. “Today it was Megan. Two weeks ago, it was Katie Matthews. Kelsey Nichols and Katie Duhe have been productive all season. Our players are starting to realize, it doesn't matter who comes up with the big play, as long as we win.”

Gomez's bombs were more than enough for Terry (4-3), who held UTSA to one run for the second straight start. After scuffling early in the game, Terry held the Roadrunners scoreless in the final six innings, scattering six hits. All four of the Baytown, Texas native's wins in her first season with the program have come versus Southland foes.

“Kenna's performance was excellent all weekend and she was really hitting her spots,” Langlois commented. “She looked a little off at the beginning, but she assured me she was okay. She battled back from the bad start and was getting stronger as the game went on.”

Things did not look great at the start for Terry, however. Carrie Monroe led off the first for the Roadrunners and hit Terry's fourth pitch of the game over the left field fence to stake UTSA to the early lead. Ashley Kappler followed with a single and moved to second on a one-out walk to Kristin Kappler. Terry was able to bounce back and retire Danye Holmes and Caitlyn Ivy to keep the deficit at one.

“Getting out of that first inning down just one run was big,” Langlois said. “I told Kenna if she could keep us close that someone was going to come up with a big hit. We were putting runners on early and I felt like we were going to score some runs eventually.”

Southeastern was indeed threatening from the start, but stranded four runners in the opening two innings, before finally breaking through in the bottom of the third versus UTSA ace Emily Humpal (7-4). Nichols drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Katie Duhe. Matthews then reached on an error by Kristin Kappler to put a pair of runners on. Gomez followed with a line drive that easily cleared the left field fence to put the Lady Lions ahead, 3-1.

UTSA threatened to cut into the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Siera Sproul reached on a one-out single to give the Roadrunners a base runner. Monroe followed with a flare into right centerfield that tipped off the glove of a diving Matthews. However, sophomore Michelle Duhe picked up the loose ball, fired the ball into Katie Duhe, who quickly spun and gunned Sproul out at third. Terry then forced Ashley Kappler to fly out to end the threat.

Gomez provided Southeastern with an insurance run in the bottom of the inning. The Alvin, Texas native ripped the first pitch of Haylee Staton over the left field fence for a 4-1 lead. Gomez's fourth home run of the season moved her into a tie with Nichols and Matthews for the team lead.

Terry would not let UTSA threaten again, sitting down the final seven Roadrunners she faced. Freshman Megan McCollum keyed the defensive effort in the final two innings, making two impressive stops at second base.

Southeastern is now 14-5 on the season at North Oak Park, where it has won seven of its last eight games. While Langlois is pleased with his team's performance at home, he knows his young, improved team must win some games away from Hammond to get back into the Southland Conference Tournament race.

“We were very disappointed in our efforts in the second game yesterday, but overall we got we needed out of this weekend,” Langlois said. “Now, we have to get ready for next weekend at Northwestern State and try to gain some momentum for the stretch run.”

The series with the Lady Demons opens with a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and concludes with a 1 p.m. Sunday contest. Live stats for the series will be available at www.nsudemons.com.