HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana freshman outfielder
Kinsey Nichols singled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the Lady Lion softball team completed its Southland Conference series sweep with a 5-4 victory over Incarnate Word Sunday afternoon at North Oak Park.
The Lady Lions rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to improve to 10-15 overall and 5-1 in Southland Conference play – the program's best start to league action since opening 6-0 in 2001. UIW fell to 3-20 overall and 0-6 in Southland play.
Southeastern took a little while to get going offensively, but finished the game with 10 hits. Nichols, freshman third baseman
Sydney Booker, senior shortstop
Megan Moore and senior second baseman
Vanessa Eng had two hits apiece, while sophomore outfielder
Sloan Jenkins hit a game-tying three-run home run.
Helping keep SLU within striking distance while waiting for the bats to heat up was junior pitcher
Taylor Bishop (6-3). The Sugar Land, Texas native was lights out in seven innings of scoreless relief, striking out five and scattering four hits.
UIW jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to uncharacteristic poor defense by the Lady Lions. The Cardinals scored three unearned runs against SLU junior
Madison Vige' after errors by Booker, Moore and sophomore catcher
Lacey Fritz.
The Cardinals padded their lead in the top of the second. An RBI single by senior centerfielder Alex Zepeda put UIW up, 4-0.
The Lady Lions got on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Junior designated player
Amber Sather drew a walk to open the frame, then senior first baseman
Teresa Lemos bunted freshman pinch runner
Grace DeLee into scoring position. Moore followed with a double to right centerfield, scoring DeLee and cutting the lead to 4-1.
SLU knotted the game up in the bottom of the fourth inning. A single by Booker and a Sather walk put a pair of runners on to start the inning. Two outs later, Jenkins lined a 1-1 pitch over the left field fence to tie the score.
From there, Bishop and a pair of UIW pitchers – senior Brooke DuBois and sophomore Kristin Hebert (2-8) – matched zeroes over the next 4.5 innings. However, while the Cardinals never seriously threatened Bishop, SLU stranded five runners over the fifth through eighth innings.
SLU was finally able to break through in the bottom of the ninth inning. Fritz and Eng opened the inning with consecutive singles. After junior outfielder
Katie Lacour sacrificed the runners into scoring position, Nichols singled up the middle to allow freshman pinch runner
Peyton Stokes-Sutton to cruise in with the winning run.
Southeastern will close its six-game home stand on Tuesday, hosting Mississippi State at 5 p.m. at North Oak Park. Tuesday will feature the "Flood the Field" promotion, as the first 200 SLU students will receive a free t-shirt and students will receive free wings as available. Tuesday will also be a "Green Out" as all fans are encouraged to wear green. Live stats and live video (LionVision subscription required) will be accessible at LionSports.net.
