HAMMOND, La. – Central Arkansas pitchers Shivaun Landeros and Kayla Gomness limited Southeastern Louisiana to one run on the way to sweeping a Southland Conference softball doubleheader from the Lady Lions Saturday afternoon at North Oak Park.
SLU (19-23, 5-12 Southland) saw its losing streak extended to six games. Central Arkansas improved to 30-15 overall and 11-6 in league play.
In the opener, Landeros (18-9) and SLU senior
Taylor Bishop (11-12) battled in a pitcher's duel that UCA won, 1-0. Landeros took a no-hitter into the final inning to hand Bishop a hard-luck loss. The Sugar Land, Texas native scattered five hits and struck out four in the complete-game effort.
Gomness (9-4) and Lady Lion freshman
Caitlyn VanHemelryck (3-5) matched zeroes until UCA broke through with six runs in the fifth and sixth innings on the way to a 6-1 victory. Senior
Katie Lacour was 3-for-3 at the plate for SLU, while senior
Amber Sather hit her team-high fifth home run of the season.
The series will wrap up with a 12 p.m. contest on Sunday. Live stats and video (LionVision subscription required) will be accessible at
www.LionSports.net.
Game One – Central Arkansas 1, Southeastern Louisiana 0
Central Arkansas scored all the runs it would need in the top of the first inning. Briana Whisenhunt beat out an infield single to leadoff the frame, then scored on a bloop single by Hannah Stirton.
UCA was poised to add to its lead in the top of the second inning. Bishop hit Amy Gunnells and Whisenhunt, then walked Sarah Bigej to load the bases. Bishop kept Southeastern within striking distance by forcing Sam Forrest to ground out to end the frame.
Unfortunately, Southeastern could get nothing going against Landeros, who retired the first eight Lady Lions she faced. Sather broke up the no-hitter with a sharp single up the middle to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. Landeros shook it off and secured the shutout victory by retiring freshman
Taylor Estain, junior
Mychal Truxillo and freshman
Whitney Sullivan.
Game Two – Central Arkansas 6, Southeastern Louisiana 1
UCA mounted the first threat in the top of the third inning, as Bigej doubled with one out. VanHemelryck kept the Bears off the board by retiring Forrest and Jessie Taylor.
Southeastern put together its own threat in the bottom of the third inning. Lacour and freshman
Jaquelyn Ramon recorded back-to-back singles with two outs, but Gomness forced sophomore
Kinsey Nichols to fly out to end the threat.
UCA got on the board in the top of the fifth inning. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Forrest and Taylor gave the Bears a 2-0 lead.
Southeastern flirted with its first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Singles by sophomore
Carlie Whittington and Lacour, followed by a Ramon walk loaded the bases with two outs, but Gomness struck out Nichols to keep the lead at 2-0.
UCA ended SLU's comeback hopes in the top of the sixth inning. The Bears plated four runs – including two unearned – to take a 6-0 advantage.
Southeastern finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sather launched a 3-1 pitch over the centerfield fence to cut the lead to 6-1. The Lady Lions would get no closer, as Gomness and Landeros combined to hold SLU hitless the rest of the way.
