HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team closed the 2017 Lion Classic I with victories over Mississippi Valley State and Coppin State Sunday at North Oak Park.
With the two victories, the Lady Lions concluded the opening weekend of the season with a 3-1 record. Second-year head coach
Rick Fremin saw both positives to build on and areas his team needs to continue to work on.
"We were pleased with the overall depth of our team," Fremin commented. "We have a lot of softball-savvy players that can help us in any given game. Our pitching staff had a good opening weekend and we were pleased to see several pitchers bounce back today."
"We need to continue to work on our patience and selectiveness at the plate," Fremin added. "We also have to concentrate on making sure we maintain our energy for a full seven innings."
In the opener, Southeastern rallied from a 5-0 first-inning deficit for an 11-5 victory over Mississippi Valley State. SLU scored in every inning, as junior Maddie Edmonson, junior
Kinsey Nichols, junior
Mahalia Gibson and sophomore
Jaquelyn Ramon each finished with two hits and two runs. Junior
Rachel Hayes (1-0) tossed 4.2 innings of shutout relief to earn her first win as a Lady Lion.
In the nightcap, SLU handed Coppin State a 6-1 defeat. Junior
Lacey Hill (1-0), freshman
Ali McCoy and sophomore
Caitlyn VanHemelryck combined to hold CSU to three hits. Gibson tripled and drove in two runs, while McCoy, Nichols and Ramon added two hits apiece.
Southeastern will continue its season-opening home stand next week, hosting Lion Classic II on Friday through Sunday at North Oak Park.
Game One – Southeastern Louisiana 11, Mississippi Valley State 5
Mississippi Valley State sent 10 to the plate in the opening inning, chasing freshman starter
Tanner Wright from the game. The Delta Devils jumped out to a 5-0 lead to put Southeastern in an early hole.
Southeastern cut into the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Edmonston led off the frame with a single, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Watts to cut the MVSU advantage to 5-1.
After Hayes came in to get out of a two-on, one-out jam in the top of the second, SLU added to its total in the bottom of the frame. Freshman
Mattie Ort was hit by a pitch by Rebekah Clinton to start the inning, then later scored on a RBI single by Ramon.
With Hayes in control of the Mississippi Valley lineup, Southeastern further cut into the lead in the bottom of the third inning. Nichols walked to lead off the inning, stole second and third then scored on an RBI groundout by senior
Mychal Truxillo to pull within 5-3.
Southeastern took the lead for good with a four-run fourth inning. Nichols and Watts each had RBI singles, then two MVSU errors led to two more Lady Lions runs and a 7-5 lead.
The Lady Lions padded their lead in the bottom of the fifth. RBI's by Gibson and Edmonston plated the first two runs of the frame, then the speedy Ramon scored on a wild pitch to give the Lady Lions a commanding 10-5 advantage. Junior
Carlie Whittington scored on a throwing error by Chandler Ellis in the bottom of the sixth inning to provide the final 11-5 margin.
Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 6, Coppin State 1
Southeastern took the early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Edmonston blooped a single down the right field line, stole second and scored when Nichols followed with a single through the right side. Nichols would eventually score on a sacrifice fly by Gibson to stake SLU to a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Lions doubled their tally in the bottom of the second inning. Doubles by Ort and McCoy resulted in the inning's first run. Later in the inning, Ramon singled and advanced to second when McCoy got caught in a run down. The Channelview, Texas native stole second and scored on a throwing error to put SLU on top, 4-0.
Hill mowed through the Eagles until Coppin State took advantage of a pair of Southeastern errors in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Lady Lion lead to 4-1.
Southeastern would answer in the bottom of the frame. Nichols bunted for a single to lead off the inning, then Gibson plated her with a triple into the right centerfield gap. Gibson would later come home on a Watts groundout to provide SLU with a 6-1 lead. McCoy and VanHemelryck each pitched scoreless frames to close out the win.
2017 Lion Classic I – Feb. 10-12 – North Oak Park – Hammond, La.
Friday, Feb. 10
Field One
Nicholls 3, Army 0
Nicholls 4, Mississippi Valley State 3
Field Two
UT Martin 12, Nevada 4
Nevada 3, Southern Illinois 2 (8 innings)
Southeastern Illinois 11, Coppin State 0 (5 innings)
Saturday, Feb. 11
Field One
Nicholls 3, Southern Illinois 1
Mississippi Valley State 7, Coppin State 3
Southeastern Louisiana 7, Army 4
Nevada 3, Southeastern Louisiana 1
Field Two
UT Martin 8, Coppin State 0
UT Martin 5, Army 3 (5 innings)
Nevada 1, Nicholls 0
Field Three
Southern Illinois 5, Mississippi Valley State 0
Sunday, Feb. 12
Field One
Tennessee Martin 8, Mississippi Valley State 0 (6 Innings)
Southeastern Louisiana 11, Mississippi Valley State 5
Southeastern Louisiana 6, Coppin State 1
Field Two
Southern Illinois 7, Army 0
Nevada 6, Army 5
Nicholls 13, Coppin State 0 (5 Innings)
