Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

NATCHITOCHES – Behind a strong pitching performance from sophomore pitcher Kati Morse, as well as clutch hitting from senior Tamra Ladnier, freshman Hali Westmoreland and sophomore Kelsey Nichols the Southeastern Louisiana softball team battled to a split with league rival Northwestern State in Southland Conference softball action Saturday afternoon at Lady Demon Diamond.

The 5-2 11-inning win was the first league road victory for Southeastern (17-20, 7-10 Southland). Morse threw all 11 innings and allowed just one earned run versus the Lady Demons (26-18, 9-11 Southland), striking out five in the complete-game effort.

An RBI groundout by Meghan Gomez, followed by RBI singles by Ladnier and Westmoreland broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the 11th inning. Sophomore Kelsey Nichols continued her strong performance at the plate with a 4-for-6 performance in the nightcap to maintain her .406 batting average. Brooke Boening (6-7) took the loss for NSU, despite striking out 16 in 10.1 innings of work.”

In the opener, Kylie Roos (12-5) held the Lady Lions to five hits and singled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Lady Demons a 3-2 come-from-behind victory. Senior Katie Duhe homered for the Lady Lions in the game, while Westmoreland drove in the first run of her career. Sophomore Kenna Terry (4-4) was the tough luck loser for the Lady Lions, giving up two earned runs and striking out seven in a complete-game effort.

“We're really pleased how we fought back in the second game after taking a tough loss in the opener,” Southeastern head coach Pete Langlois commented. “Kati Morse did the job for us in the circle and we got some clutch hits from Tamra and Hali. We're really proud of our efforts to get our first Southland road win and we're hoping to build on that heading into Sunday.”

The series concludes with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday. Live stats will be available at nsudemons.com.

Game 1 – Northwestern State 3, Southeastern Louisiana 2
Southeastern jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With two outs, Katie Duhe ripped a solo home run to straight away center field. The senior's second home run of the season put Southeastern on top.

The Lady Lions added to their lead in the top of the fourth inning. Freshman Megan Moore singled and then scored when Westmoreland flared a shot out of the reach of diving leftfielder Blair Beard. The Walker native's RBI single doubled the Lady Lion advantage to 2-0.

Terry held Northwestern State scoreless through the first four innings before the Lady Demons broke through in the fifth inning. Singles by Cheyenne DelaGarza-Stills, Cali Burke and Roos cut the Southeastern lead to 2-1.

Poor defense allowed NSU to tie the score in the top of the sixth inning. Brianna Rodriguez singled to lead off the inning and Ladnier misplayed a bunt by Kayla Cole to put runners at the corners with no outs. Pinch runner Shenequia Abby then scored on a sacrifice fly by Ashlee England to knot the score. Terry kept the score tied by striking out Taylor McLoughlin and Beard.

Southeastern threatened to break the tie in the top of the seventh inning. Roos hit junior Trish Bliss and one out later, sophomore Michelle Duhe singled to put a pair on. Katie Duhe drew a two-out walk to load the bases, but Roos forced junior Katie Matthews to fly out to left to keep the score deadlocked.

Burke led off the bottom of the seventh inning with an infield single and was bunted over to second by Tara McKenney. Roos followed with a shot into the right centerfield gap to score Burke and end the game.

Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 5, Northwestern State 2 (11 Innings)
Morse and Boening matched zeroes until the top of the fourth inning. Boening sat the first 10 Lady Lions she faced, before giving up consecutive singles to Nichols and Katie Duhe, then walking Matthews to load the bases. Boening's second pitch to junior Meghan Gomez skipped past DelaGarza Stills, allowing Nichols to trot home and break the scoreless tie.

Morse made the 1-0 lead hold up until the bottom of the seventh inning. Samantha Roberts singled to open the inning and Abby pinch ran, eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Englund to tie the score.

The score remained tied until the top of the 10th inning, when Westmoreland was placed on second to start the frame in conjunction with the international tiebreaker rule. Westmoreland would eventually score on an RBI single by Nichols to put Southeastern up, 2-1.

Northwestern State got the run back in its half of the 10th, as England started the inning on second. After being bunted over to third, England scored on a single by Tiffany Ward to tie the game. Morse bore down to keep the score tied, retiring McKenney and Roos to extend the game.

Katie Duhe was placed on second to start the Southeastern 11th and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Matthews. Gomez followed with a high chopper to second base that Burke fielded cleanly, but Duhe beat her throw home. After Moore drew a walk, Ladnier roped a sharp single to center to score senior pinch runner Bailey Zievert. Westmoreland followed with a single of her own to plate Moore to push the Southeastern lead to 5-2.

With Roos on second to start the bottom of the 11th, Morse walked Abby to put a pair of runners on. Both would be stranded, as Morse retired Rodriguez, Cole and England to close out the longest Southeastern game since a 1-0, 12-inning win at Nicholls State on March 3, 2004.