ABILENE, Texas – Senior first baseman
Teresa Lemos and freshman outfielder
Kinsey Nichols had three hits each to lead Southeastern Louisiana to an 8-5 victory over Abilene Christian in the Southland Conference softball opener for both teams Friday night at Poly Wells Field.
Lemos and Nichols each drove in two runs to help SLU (6-12, 1-0 Southland) to its second straight victory. Senior second baseman
Vanessa Eng hit her second home run of the season for the Lady Lions, as she and junior outfielder
Katie Lacour each had two hits.
Junior
Taylor Bishop (4-3) went the distance in the circle, holding ACU (3-14, 0-1 Southland) to three earned runs and sending the Wildcats to their 10
th straight loss.
Southeastern jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Consecutive singles by Lacour and Nichols, followed by freshman third baseman
Sydney Booker drawing a walk loaded the bases. ACU senior pitcher Emily Seidel (2-11) then walked junior designated player
Amber Sather to force in the first run.
SLU doubled its lead in the top of the second inning. Lemos led off the frame with a single and later scored on a RBI single by Nichols to put the Lady Lions ahead, 2-0.
ACU got on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Freshman outfielder Brianna Barnhill led off the frame with a solo home run over the left centerfield to cut the Lady Lion lead to 2-1.
Southeastern broke the game open in the top of the fourth inning. Lemos led off the inning with a double, then Eng ripped a two-run home run over the centerfield fence. Lacour followed with a single, then Nichols plated her with her team-high fourth triple of the season. A sacrifice fly by Booker scored Nichols and gave Southeastern a 6-1 lead.
Bishop and Seidel matched zeroes over the next few innings before ACU cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. A single by junior catcher Cara Hoover and a double by freshman second baseman Holly Vanckhoven scored the first two runs, then the Wildcats took advantage of a Lacour error to cut the lead to 6-4.
Southeastern added insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. Sather reached on an error, then sophomore outfielder
Sloan Jenkins singled to put a pair or runners on. One out later, Lemos ripped a single up the middle to score junior
Amanda Livaudais and freshman
Peyton Stokes-Sutton to put the Lady Lions up, 8-4.
Freshman outfielder Kristin Watkins and freshman shortstop Peyton Hedrick reached on consecutive singles for ACU in the bottom of the seventh. After the runners moved up on a passed ball, Watkins scored on a groundout by freshman third baseman Kaleigh Lightsey. Bishop followed by forcing Hoover to fly out to secure the victory.
The series concludes on Saturday with an 11 a.m. doubleheader. Live stats, provided by ACU, will be available at LionSports.net.
