HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team will return to action on Wednesday, hosting non-conference foe South Alabama at 6 p.m. at North Oak Park.
 
The game between the host Lady Lions (9-29) and the visiting Jaguars (27-12) was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was pushed back a day due to rain in the Hammond area. Live stats for Wednesday's game will be available at www.LionSports.net and fans can follow the action via Twitter at www.twitter.com/sluathletics. The first 100 students will receive free food courtesy of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers.
 
Southeastern is coming off a split with Southland Conference foe UTSA over the week. In Friday's opener, Lady Lion junior pitcher Kenna Terry held the Roadrunners to three hits in a 4-1 Southeastern win. In the series finale on Saturday, Southeastern could manage just one hit in a 4-0 loss.
 
The Lady Lions are hitting .235 as a team for the season. Sophomore second baseman Megan McCollum paces the squad with a .314 batting average, followed by junior first baseman Ariell Van Hook (.289) and junior outfielder Michelle Duhe (.273), who also leads the team with 36 hits.
 
Duhe has also scored a team-high 14 runs. The Lutcher native is followed closely by Van Hook, senior catcher Meghan Gomez (13), McCollum (12) and sophomore shortstop Kayla Elswick (12).
 
Gomez is the team's top power threat, ranking second in the Southland Conference with eight home runs. Van Hook and Elswick follow with four and two home runs, respectively. Gomez also leads the team with 21 RBI, followed by McCollum (12), Elswick (11), Van Hook (10) and junior outfielder Kelsey Nichols (10).
 
Senior outfielder Katie Matthews paces the team with seven doubles. McCollum, Van Hook and senior third baseman Trish Bliss are on Matthews' heels with six doubles apiece. Van Hook has drawn a team-high 18 walks, followed by senior third baseman Lauren Coniglio and Matthews, who have 15 free passes each to their credit.
 
Terry (3-13, 4.46 ERA) and senior Vicki Honeycutt (3-3, 4.98 ERA) have handled the majority of the pitching duties of late for Southeastern. Junior Kati Morse (2-4, 3.28 ERA) and sophomore Jessie Browne (1-9, 7.26 ERA) round out a Lady Lion staff that has a 4.88 team earned run average.
 
Southeastern's pitchers will face a dangerous USA lineup that is hitting .292 as a team and features five regulars with plus-.300 batting averages. Junior infielder/outfielder Meghan Collins leads the team with a .349 batting average, followed by freshman utility player Blair Johnson (.339), junior infielder Brittany Fowler (.336), freshman outfielder Alyssa Linn (.331) and senior utility player Haley Hopkins (.305).
 
Collins, Fowler and senior infielder Christin Crocker share the team lead with five home runs apiece. Fowler leads the team with 29 RBI.
 
USA pitching staff enters Wednesday's game with a 1.98 team earned run average. Sophomore Hannah Campbell (16-8, 2.20 ERA) is the staff's ace, while senior Katy Neal (5-3, 2.57 ERA), junior Jessica Dobson (3-0, 1.09 ERA) and freshman Farish Beard (3-1, 0.62 ERA) have also seen time in the circle.
 
Southeastern is 1-12 all-time versus South Alabama. Earlier this season, USA defeated Southeastern twice. The Lady Lions' lone win in the series was an 8-2 win in 2007.
 
Following Wednesday's contest, Southeastern will head to Huntsville, Texas for a two-game series against Southland Conference foe Sam Houston State. The series opens with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday and concludes on Saturday at 1 p.m. Live stats for the series will be available at www.gobearkats.com and fans can also follow the action via Twitter at www.twitter.com/sluathletics.