HAMMOND – Northwestern State swept a doubleheader from Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference action Friday evening at North Oak Park.
The Lady Demons (33-15, 22-2 Southland) clinched the Southland Conference regular season championship and the top seed in the league tournament, scheduled for May 6-8 in Natchitoches. Southeastern, which has already secured a berth in the postseason tournament, fell to 20-28 overall and 14-10 in league play.
In the opener, SLU senior
Spencer Adkinson (3-5) and NSU freshman Mikayla Brown (11-2) engaged in a pitcher's duel. The Lady Demons scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning on the way to a 3-0 victory. SLU junior outfielder
Katie Lacour had two hits in the loss.
In the nightcap, Northwestern State scored multiple runs in each of the final four innings in a 13-3 mercy-rule victory. Lacour had two more hits for SLU, while junior designated player
Amber Sather drove in two runs with an RBI double.
The regular season will wrap up Saturday with a 12 p.m. contest. Live stats and live video (LionVision subscription required) will be accessible at LionSports.net. Prior to the game at approximately 11:45 a.m., the senior class of
Megan Moore,
Vanessa Eng,
Spencer Adkinson,
Teresa Lemos and
Tori Stamper will be honored in a special Senior Day ceremony.
Game One – Northwestern State 3, Southeastern Louisiana 0Southeastern mounted the first threat in the bottom of the first inning against Brown. Lacour singled and Sather drew her single-season school record 39
th walk, but Brown retired Moore to keep SLU off the board.
In the fourth, SLU freshman shortstop
Sydney Booker reached on an error and Sather singled to put the first two runners on. However, Brown recovered to retire the next three batters to get out of the inning.
Adkinson cruised along until back-to-back singles with one out by sophomore right fielder Kellye Kincannon and senior designated player Cassandra Barefield chased Adkinson from the game. One out later, an RBI single by junior left fielder Natalie Landry and a two-run single by sophomore second baseman Micayla Sorosiak against SLU junior
Taylor Bishop gave the Lady Demons a 3-0 lead.
Brown would make the lead hold up. A walk by Booker in the sixth and a single by sophomore pinch hitter
Mychal Truxillo was all SLU could manage.
Game Two – Northwestern State 13, Southeastern Louisiana 3 (6 Innings)NSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead against junior
Madison Vige' (0-6) in the top of the first inning. Consecutive doubles by Kincannon and Barefield plated a run to give the Lady Demons an early advantage.
NSU added three more runs in the top of the third inning. Kincannon doubled home the first run, then two more runs followed on Barefield's 16
th home run of the season to put the Lady Demons up, 4-0.
SLU got on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Freshman catcher
Carlie Whittington reached on an error, Lacour singled and Eng reached on an error to load the bases with no outs. Booker then hit a line drive to shallow left that Landry caught, but then sailed her throw back in to allow Whittington to score.
Sather followed with a two-run double into the right centerfield gap to pull SLU within one. The Lady Lions would get no closer, however, as NSU freshman Micaela Bouvier (13-4) retired Moore and Truxillo to maintain the 4-3 lead.
NSU broke the game open in the latter innings. The Lady Demons scored two in the fourth, two in the fifth and five in the sixth to break open the game and enforce the mercy rule.
