KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team's challenging pre-Southland Conference schedule continued on Thursday, with the Lady Lions dropping a pair of decisions on the opening day of the UT Volunteer Classic at Lee Stadium.
Southeastern (8-9) has now played 12 consecutive games versus teams with winning records after Thursday's action.
In the opener, a Lady Lion rally fell short in a 5-2 loss to Ohio (9-1). Freshman
Ali McCoy doubled in both Southeastern runs, while junior outfielder
Kinsey Nichols, senior third baseman
Mychal Truxillo and junior outfielder
Kalyn Watts each also had hits for SLU.
No. 15 Tennessee (14-2) blanked SLU, 8-0, in the nightcap. Nichols, junior outfielder Maddie Edmonson, freshman designated player
Mattie Ort and sophomore first baseman
Kameryn Fairchild were the only Lady Lions to manage hits against UT pitchers Matty Moss (8-0) and Kelsey Morrison.
Southeastern will face Jacksonville State at 8:30 a.m. and Delaware at 11 a.m. on Friday. Both times listed are Central. Live stats of both games will be accessible via the softball schedule page on
www.LionSports.net.
Game One – Ohio 5, Southeastern Louisiana 2
Ohio took the lead in the bottom of the second inning versus SLU junior
Lacey Hill (4-1). After the first two batters reached, Mikayla Cooper powered a three-run home run inside the left field line to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead.
Junior
Rachel Hayes settled down the Ohio lineup for the next couple of innings before the Bobcats added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. RBI singles by Taylor Saxton and Alex Day pushed the Bobcat advantage to 5-0.
Southeastern finally got to Ohio starter Danielle Stiene (3-0) in the top of the fifth inning. Truxillo singled on the inning's first pitch, then moved to third on a double by Watts. McCoy followed with a double of her own, scoring Watts and junior pinch runner
Peyton Sutton.
After freshman catcher
Brennan Bourgeois walked to put a pair of runners on, Steine struck out sophomore shortstop
Jaquelyn Ramon before giving way to Savannah Jo Dorsey, who retired Edmonston and Nichols to end the SLU threat.
Dorsey made the lead stand up, retiring the final six Lady Lions she faced to earn her second save of the season.
Game Two – No. 15 Tennessee 8, Southeastern Louisiana 0 (6 Innings)
Southeastern mounted a threat against Moss in the top of the first inning. Singles by Nichols and Ort put a pair of runners on with two outs, but Moss recovered to retire Truxillo to end SLU's scoring opportunity.
Pitching in her home state, SLU freshman
Alley McDonald (0-2) gave up all the runs the Volunteers would need in the bottom of the second inning. Scarlet McSwain was hit by a pitch then scored on an RBI double by Chelsea Seggern to give UT a 1-0 lead.
Tennessee added to its lead in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by Taylor Rowland. Meghan Gregg busted the game open with a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning.
UT added singles runs in the fifth and sixth innings to enforce the mercy rule. After the first-inning threat, Moss and Morrison combined to hold SLU to hits by Fairchild and Edmonston over the final five innings.
