HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team will close out the 2012 season this week, hosting UT Arlington for a two-game Southland Conference series at North Oak Park.
 
The series between the Lady Lions (13-34, 3-15 Southland) and the visiting Mavericks (15-25, 5-13 SLC) is set for Friday and Saturday. Friday will be Little League Night at North Oak Park and all kids attending the 6 p.m. contest in their Little League jerseys will receive free admission. Saturday's season finale is set for 12 p.m. and Lady Lion seniors Meghan Gomez, Vicki Honeycutt, Trish Bliss, Lauren Coniglio and Katie Matthews will be honored prior to their final game in a Southeastern uniform. Live stats for the series will be available at www.LionSports.net and fans can follow the action via Twitter at www.twitter.com/sluathletics.
 
Southeastern will be looking to close out 2012 on a four-game winning streak. On Tuesday, the Lady Lions scored 30 runs in a doubleheader sweep at Grambling. Sophomore shortstop Kayla Elswick and junior first baseman Ariell Van Hook each homered twice, while Bliss hit her first home run as a Lady Lion and junior outfielder Katie Doyle went 4-for-4 with three doubles.
 
The Lady Lions are hitting .245 as a team with 28 home runs, 148 runs batted in and 170 runs scored. Sophomore second baseman Megan McCollum leads the team with a .321 batting average, followed by junior centerfielder Michelle Duhe (.277) and Van Hook (.275). Duhe tops the team with 44 hits and four triples.
 
Gomez is the team's top power hitter, leading the Lady Lions with nine home runs and 28 RBI.  The Alvin, Texas native is one home run shy of joining former Lady Lion Karin Smith as the only players in school history with 30 career home runs.
 
Van Hook (7 HR, 16 RBI), junior outfielder Kelsey Nichols (2 HR, 13 RBI), Elswick (4 HR, 21 RBI), Bliss (13 RBI) and sophomore first baseman Tori Sheppard (2 HR) are the other top power threats for Southeastern. McCollum and Matthews share the team lead with nine doubles, followed by Van Hook, Doyle and Bliss with seven apiece.
 
McCollum has taken the team lead with 21 runs scored. Gomez and Elswick follow with 19 apiece, while Duhe, Van Hook and Doyle have all come home 18 times. With 91 career runs scored, Gomez needs two runs to tie the school's career record for runs scored.
 
In the circle, Southeastern heads into the final weekend of the season with a 4.77 team earned run average. Junior Kati Morse (4-4, 3.55 ERA), junior Kenna Terry (4-15, 4.32 ERA), Honeycutt (4-5, 4.34 ERA) and sophomore Jessie Browne (1-10, 8.13 ERA) make up the Lady Lion staff.
 
Southeastern will be facing a UTA team that is hitting .231 as a team with 19 home runs and 93 RBI. Senior catcher Erica LeFlore is the team's top hitter, leading the Mavericks with six home runs, 20 RBI and a .305 batting average.
 
In the circle, the Mavericks have posted a team earned run average of 2.69. Junior Teri Lyles (7-11, 2.34 ERA) and sophomore Callie Collins (6-13, 3.10 ERA) have split time in the circle for UT Arlington.
 
Southeastern is 14-30 all-time versus UTA. Last season, the Lady Lions dropped two of three to the Mavericks in Hammond.