NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team racked up 23 hits to back up two wins in the circle by junior
Taylor Bishop, as the Lady Lions earned a Southland Conference doubleheader sweep of Stephen F. Austin Friday afternoon at the SFA Softball Field.
Southeastern (12-16, 7-1 Southland) clinched its third straight series victory to open league play, extending its Southland winning streak to six games. Stephen F. Austin fell to 7-20 overall and 1-7 in conference action. The 7-1 start to league play matches the best-ever for the program since it joined the Southland Conference prior to the 1998 season.
In the opener, junior designated player
Amber Sather and freshman shortstop
Sydney Booker each homered, while senior third baseman
Megan Moore and junior centerfielder
Katie Lacour had three hits apiece. Junior
Sydney McCullough also drove in three runs, which was more than enough offense for Bishop (8-3), who scattered four hits in SLU's 11-2 mercy-rule run.
The nightcap was much more competitive. Booker plated the game-winning runs with her team-high fifth triple of the season in the top of the eighth inning to give SLU a 5-3 victory. Freshman outfielder
Kinsey Nichols finished with three hits and three runs scored, while Booker and Moore drove in two runs each and senior second baseman
Vanessa Eng had two hits. Bishop and senior
Tori Stamper both pitched well, holding SFA to four hits.
"We had good production up and down the lineup," Southeastern head coach
Pete Langlois said. "We've been good at the top half all season, but Vanessa had some key hits for us today and Sloan (Jenkins) perfectly executed a squeeze bunt. These were team wins today.
"Booker has been clutch all year for us," Langlois added. "Katie and Kinsey have consistently been getting on to set her up and she's been coming through. With Amber and Megan starting to heat up, we're finally starting to see the middle of the lineup we expected."
Langlois was also pleased with the pitching efforts of Bishop and Stamper.
"We've decided we're not going to pitch Taylor much during non-conference play, so she can go out there and do what she did today," Langlois said. "She's pitching with a lot of confidence and she's in better shape, so we expect her to continue to be our ace. Tori gave us some very good innings today and held them so we could get to Taylor to close it out."
Southeastern and SFA will close out the series on Saturday at 11 a.m., weather permitting. Langlois doesn't want his team to be satisfied with Friday's two wins.
"We're pleased to win our third straight Southland series," Langlois said. "But we shouldn't be satisfied with just that. Our next step it to show some killer instinct and close out the sweep."
Game One – Southeastern Louisiana 11, Stephen F. Austin 2 (6 Innings)Southeastern jumped out to an early lead versus SFA freshman Callee Guffey (3-8). With one out, Booker powered her team-high sixth home run of the season well over the left field fence to give SLU a 2-0 lead.
Bishop sat down the first six batters she faced before the first three batters reached in the bottom of the third inning. The Sugar Land, Texas native limited the damage, though SFA cut the lead to 2-1.
Southeastern got the run back in the top of the fourth inning. A Sather walk and a Moore single put runners at the corners with one out. Jenkins then laid down a perfect suicide squeeze, allowing freshman pinch runner
Shelby Stewart to race home to push the lead back to 3-1.
SFA once again pulled within one in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore designated player Brittany Lewis drew a walk and later scored on an RBI double by junior centerfielder Lindsay Campbell to cut the Lady Lion lead to 3-2.
Southeastern answered again in the top of the fifth inning. RBI singles by senior first baseman
Teresa Lemos and Moore advanced the SLU advantage to 5-2.
Any hope of a SFA comeback ended in the top of the sixth inning. Sather's fifth home run of the season accounted for the frame's first three runs, before McCullough later cleared the bases with a bases loaded double into the left centerfield gap.
Bishop allowed SLU to end with a mercy rule victory, sitting SFA down in order in the bottom of the sixth inning to close out the win.
Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 5, Stephen F. Austin 3 (8 Innings)Southeastern jumped out to a lead again in the top of the first inning, facing SFA freshman Maykayla Sikes (1-8). Sather singled home Nichols to put SLU ahead, 1-0.
The Lady Lions added to their lead in the top of the third inning. Singles by Eng and Nichols put a pair of runners on, then Moore lined a two-run single up the middle to put Southeastern in front, 3-0.
SFA finally got to Stamper in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Campbell drew a bases loaded walk to force in the Ladyjacks' first run. In the fifth, Lewis' RBI single chased Stamper, bringing Bishop in with the tying run on and one out. Bishop retired the next two batters to keep the lead at one.
However, SFA tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, as senior first baseman Shalie Day lined a pitch over the left field fence to knot the score at 3-3.
Southeastern finally broke through with a two-out rally in the top of the eighth inning. Lacour drew a walk, then moved to second on a wild pitch. Nichols followed with a single up the middle and smartly moved up to second when the throw went home.
With two in scoring position, Booker lined a 2-0 pitch over SFA junior right fielder Heather Hollingsworth's head to put SLU on top with a two-run triple.
Bishop made it stand up, retiring the Ladyjacks in order to improve to 5-0 in Southland Conference play this season.
