HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team split a pair of games on day two of the Tangi Tourism Lion Classic II Saturday afternoon at North Oak Park.
In the opener, Southeastern (3-3) scored in every inning on the way to a 14-1 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-10), providing plenty of offense for freshman pitcher
Nicole Ayala (2-0), who scattered six hits and struck out five in the complete-game victory.
Freshman outfielder
Kinsey Nichols led the Lady Lions at the plate in the win, tying a single-game school record with two triples on the way to a 3-for-4 performance and three RBI. Senior shortstop
Megan Moore (3-for-3) and senior first basemen
Teresa Lemos (2-for-3) had two RBI apiece.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff briefly took the lead in the top of the first inning. Third baseman Maria Aguilar led off the game with a solo home run over the left field fence to put UAPB up, 1-0.
SLU took the lead for good in the bottom of the first. Moore singled home the inning's first run, while Nichols scored on a wild pitch later in the frame to put the Lady Lions up, 2-1.
Southeastern doubled its lead in the bottom of the second. Sophomore catcher
JoAnna Booty drew a leadoff walk then scored on a double by Lemos. Lemos would come home later in the inning on an RBI groundout by junior outfielder
Katie Lacour to push the SLU advantage to 4-1.
Any hope of a UAPB comeback was dashed in the bottom of the third, as Southeastern sent 13 batters to the plate in an eight-run frame. Heads up base running by freshman
Grace DeLee scored the first run, before Booty, Lemos and senior second baseman
Vanessa Eng drove in runs on consecutive at-bats.
Nichols followed with a triple to the left centerfield gap to plate two more runs. Freshman third baseman
Sydney Booker doubled home Nichols and scored the inning's final run to give SLU a 12-1 lead on an RBI single by Moore.
Southeastern closed out the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning. Eng drew a one-out walk and scored on Nichols' second triple of the game. The Alvin, Texas native is the third player in school history to triple twice in a game and the first since Southeastern Athletics Hall of Famer Voncia Bookman did it during the 1993 season. Nichols scored the game's final run on a UAPB error to provide the final 14-1 margin.
In the nightcap, Houston Baptist (2-7) scored in every inning and battered three SLU pitchers for 13 hits on the way to a 14-0 victory. Lacour, who had her 15-game hitting streak snapped in the win over HBU, led SLU with two hits in the loss.
Southeastern will close out the Lion Classic II on Sunday, facing Southern Miss at 12 p.m. in the tournament finale.
2015 Lion Classic II – North Oak Park – Hammond, La. Friday, Feb. 13Southern Miss 24, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1 (5 Innings)
Houston Baptist 9, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4
Saturday, Feb. 14Southern Miss 12, Houston Baptist 3 (5 Innings)
Southern Miss 4, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0
Southeastern 14, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1 (5 Innings)Houston Baptist 14, Southeastern 0 (5 Innings) Sunday, Feb. 1510 a.m. – Houston Baptist vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
12 p.m. – Southeastern vs. Southern Miss Teams listed first will be home team and will occupy first base dugout
