TROY, Ala. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team continued play at the Troy Classic on Saturday, splitting a pair of games on the second day of the tournament at the Troy Softball Complex.
The Lady Lions (7-5) opened the day with a 7-0 loss to Lipscomb (9-4). Freshman designated player
Mattie Ort and senior third baseman
Mychal Truxillo led SLU with two hits apiece, but Lipscomb pitcher Mandy Jordan (6-2) struck out five in a complete-game shutout effort.
Southeastern's bats came alive in a big way in the final game of the day, as the Lady Lions recorded a season-high 14 hits on the way to an 8-5 victory over host Troy (8-4). Truxillo and junior second baseman
Grace DeLee had two RBI apiece, as both, along with junior outfielder
Kalyn Watts, freshman outfielder
Ali McCoy, freshman catcher
Brennan Bourgeois and sophomore shortstop
Jaquelyn Ramon finished with two hits apiece.
Junior
Lacey Hill (4-0) went the distance in the win over Troy to remain undefeated in her debut season with the Lady Lions. The Kilbourne, Louisiana native scattered seven hits in the victory.
Southeastern will finish out tournament on Sunday, facing Pittsburgh at 10 a.m. and Troy at 3 p.m. Live stats and video, provided by Troy, will be accessible via the softball schedule page on
www.LionSports.net.
Game One – Lipscomb 7, Southeastern Louisiana 0
The Bisons took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first against SLU junior starter
Rachel Hayes (1-3). Peyton Ward singled, stole second, moved to third on a fly out and scored on a passed ball to give Lipscomb the early advantage.
SLU mounted a threat against Jordan in the bottom of the second inning. Consecutive singles by Ort and Truxillo put a pair of runners on with one out. However, Jordan recovered to retire junior catcher
Carlie Whittington and McCoy to get out of the inning unscathed.
Lipscomb took advantage of a Lady Lion error to add to its lead in the top of the third inning. In the fourth, Chloe Yeager hit a solo home run to put the Bison on top, 3-0.
Any chance of a Southeastern comeback was squashed in the top of the sixth inning. A passed ball and three Lady Lion errors fueled a four-run frame and stretched Lipscomb's lead to 7-0.
Southeastern threatened once more in the bottom of the seventh inning. Truxillo singled and DeLee walked to put two runners on with one out. Jordan again got out of the jam, as Whittington was thrown out trying to steal, then Ramon grounded out to third to give Jordan the shutout win.
Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 8, Troy 5
Southeastern jumped on Troy starter Rachel Rigney (4-3) in the top of the first inning. Singles by DeLee and junior infielder
Mahalia Gibson, followed by Ort reaching on an error loaded the bases with one out. Rigney got out of the jam unscathed, retiring Watts and Truxillo to keep SLU off the board.
The Lady Lions sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run second inning to take the lead for good. Junior outfielder
Maddie Edmonston singled home the game's first run, then two more runs came in on a two-run single by DeLee. An RBI single by Watts followed, then Truxillo capped the inning's scoring with a two-run single of her own to give SLU a commanding 6-0 lead.
The host Trojans promptly cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second inning. A three-run home run by Brooke Echols pulled Troy closer at 6-3.
Hill and Troy reliever Peyton Glover cruised through the next several innings before Troy got something going in the bottom of the fifth inning. Echols and Stephanie Snyder walked, then Erica Davis beat out an infield single to load the bases with two outs. Hill kept the lead at three runs by forcing Meg Willis to fly out to Edmonston for the inning's final out.
After Southeastern stranded a pair in the top of the sixth inning, Troy cut further into the lead in the bottom of the frame. A passed ball allowed the first run to come in, then Becca Hartley doubled in another run to cut the lead to 6-5.
SLU responded with a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. McCoy singled home
Kalyn Watts then later scored on an RBI single by Ramon to send Troy into its final at-bat trailing, 8-5.
The Trojans attempted to mount a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Hill walked Willis and hit Madeline Porter to bring the tying run to the plate. The newcomer out of East Central (Miss.) Community College responded by forcing Kaylee Hussey to pop out to DeLee to close out the win. Hill's complete-game performance was the first by a Lady Lion pitcher this season.
