HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team overwhelmed Southern on the way to a 10-1 victory in its final non-conference game of the season Wednesday night at North Oak Park.
 
The Lady Lions (22-24) matched its win total from a year ago with its third consecutive victory. Southern fell to 4-16 overall.
 
Senior Amber Sather homered for the second straight game, as she and senior Katie Lacour drove in three runs apiece for the Lady Lions. Sather, sophomore Kinsey Nichols and junior Mychal Truxillo had two hits apiece.
 
Nichols, Lacour and sophomore Grace DeLee each scored two runs apiece. Junior Kasey Nielson (2-2) threw 3.0 perfect innings of relief to earn the victory.
 
Southern jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Lady Lion freshman Caitlyn VanHemelryck. Sydney Andrews beat out a bunt single and later scored when Shauna Knighten lined a double just inside the left field line.
 
Southern's lead did not last long. Delphia Holmes (2-8) hit Nichols with two outs in the bottom of the first, then Sather hit a towering shot over the left field fence. The Kennedale, Texas native's team-high seventh home run of the season gave the Lady Lions a 2-1 lead.
 
Southeastern busted the game open in the bottom of the second inning. Truxillo and DeLee singled, then freshman Whitney Sullivan reached on an error to load the bases with no outs. One out later, Lacour ripped a triple down the right field line to clear the bases.
 
Luke's throw in was wild, allowing Lacour to score. Later in the inning, Nichols singled, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Sather to give SLU a 7-1 lead.
 
The Lady Lions closed out the scoring in the bottom of the third inning. Senior Sydney McCullough and Kinsey Nichols each drove in runs, while another run scored on a Lady Jaguar error to take a 10-1 lead.
 
Nielson was dominant in the circle to earn the victory. The Prairieville, Louisiana native retired all nine batters she faced on just 19 pitches.
 
Southeastern will be back in action later this week when it travels to Lake Charles for a three-game Southland Conference series at McNeese State. The series opens with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday and concludes on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.