LORMAN, Miss. – Southeastern Louisiana juniors Lacey Hill and Rachel Hayes put together dominant pitching performances to pace the Lady Lion softball team to a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Alcorn State Tuesday afternoon at the Alcorn Softball Complex.
 
With the two wins, the Lady Lions (14-15) extended their win streak to five games. Alcorn State fell to 6-19 overall with the two losses.
 
In the opener, Hill (6-5) scattered two hits and struck out eight in a complete-game shutout effort in a 2-0 Lady Lion victory. Junior outfielder Maddie Edmonston and junior infielder Mahalia Gibson each posted an RBI in the win.
 
The Lady Lion bats came alive in a 6-1 victory in the nightcap. Sophomore shortstop Jaquelyn Ramon led the way with three hits, while freshman designated player Mattie Ort and junior outfielder Kalyn Watts each drove in two runs. That was more than enough for Hayes (5-5), who fanned eight and allowed just two hits in 6.1 innings of work.
 
"We received two very good pitching outings today, which we were pleased with," Southeastern head coach Rick Fremin said. "We were very happy with our selectiveness at the plate and we were able to extend innings with some timely hits."
 
Fremin, who celebrated his 40^th birthday on Tuesday, is starting to see his team come together as the team enters the second half of the regular season.
 
"I challenged our team to become a good road team and today was the first step towards that goal," Fremin commented. "We have a big conference series this weekend, so its good to go into that series with some momentum. We could be healthier, but we've seen other people step up in place of our injured players, which is a good sign."
 
Southeastern will now head to Nicholls for a three-game Southland Conference series. The series opens with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday and concludes with a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
 
Game One – Southeastern Louisiana 2, Alcorn State 0
Alcorn State's best threat of the game against Hill came in the bottom of the first inning. The Lady Braves loaded the bases with two outs, but Hill struck out Victoria Tyler to keep ASU off the board.
 
Southeastern jumped on top versus ASU starter Ambria Dorsey (0-6) in the top of the second inning. Freshman infielder Ali McCoy drew a leadoff walk and was replaced on the base paths by junior Kinsey Nichols, who advanced to second on a walk to junior catcher Carlie Whittington and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Watts. Edmonston then flared a shot just out of the reach of second baseman Kaylene Smith to score Nichols and give SLU a 1-0 lead.
 
Hill and Dorsey matched zeroes until SLU added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Junior outfielder Peyton Sutton singled sharply to center to lead off the frame. Two outs later, Gibson laced a double into the left centerfield gap to score the speedy Sutton all the way from first and double the Lady Lion cushion to 2-0.
 
The two-run advantage would be more than enough for Hill. The Kilbourne, Louisiana native allowed just a two-out singled in the bottom of the sixth to Robin Harrison over the final three innings on the way to her first shutout as a Lady Lion.
 
Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 6, Alcorn State 1
The Lady Lions took an early lead in the top of the first inning against Madi Creed (2-5). Ramon beat out an infield single, stole second and scored on a single by Ort just inside the left field line to give SLU a 1-0 advantage.
 
Southeastern busted the game open in the top of the second inning. McCoy beat out an infield single, then Nichols came in to pinch run. Nichols stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball, before scoring on a single by Watts. Watts then stole second, third and home to add to the Lady Lion lead.
 
Edmonston followed with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Catherine Gore. She then scored on a bunt single by Ramon to give the Lady Lions a commanding 4-0 advantage.
 
SLU padded their lead in the top of the fourth inning. Whittington led off the frame with a single, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before Watts hit a sacrifice fly deep enough to left to score Whittington and increase the Southeastern advantage to 5-0.
 
Hayes retired the first 10 batters, before allowing a one-out walk to Samantha Collins in the bottom of the fourth inning. Collins would eventually score on an RBI single by Jessica Crum to cut the lead to 5-1.
 
That would be as close as Alcorn would get. SLU closed out the scoring in the top of the seventh inning, as Ramon reached on an error and eventually scored on an RBI single by Ort to provide the final 6-1 margin. Hayes, sophomore Caitlyn VanHemelryck and senior Kasey Nielson combined to throw a scoreless seventh to complete the sweep.