CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team closed out a Southland Conference series sweep with a 9-4 victory at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday afternoon at Chapman Field.
SLU (15-11, 4-2 Southland) finished with 14 hits to back up a strong pitching performance by senior
Rachel Hayes (4-5). The Islanders (8-20-1, 0-6 Southland) were outscored by the Lady Lions, 42-11, in the three-game series sweep.
"This was a great weekend for our program," Southeastern head coach
Rick Fremin said. "We did an excellent job with our offensive approach and we executed our game plan in every facet at an extremely high level. Throughout our lineup, we did a great job of being aggressive at the plate and on the base paths."
Senior
Kinsey Nichols led SLU with three hits, while junior
Jaquelyn Ramon, senior
Mahalia Gibson, junior
Rebecca Skains and sophomore
Ali McCoy each had two hits apiece. Nichols and senior
Maddie Edmonston led SLU with three runs each, while Ramon and Gibson both had a team-high two RBI.
Ramon also recorded her 14
th stolen base of the season. The Channelview, Texas native is the first player in school history to reach 100 career steals. Hayes scattered three hits and struck out three in 6.2 innings of work to earn her second win of the series.
Gibson reached on a fielder's choice to score Edmonston in the top of the first inning versus AMCC junior starter Ashley Smith (2-10). Later in the frame, Gibson stole home to give SLU a 2-0 lead.
Southeastern doubled its lead in the top of the second inning. Ramon singled home Edmonston and Nichols to push the Lady Lion advantage to 4-0. In the third, sophomore
Mattie Ort singled home freshman
Anna Rodenberg to extend the lead to 5-0.
The Islanders got on the board in the bottom of the third inning, as sophomore Kandace Johnson doubled to lead off the frame and eventually scored on a wild pitch to cut the Lady Lion advantage to 5-1. Southeastern got the run back in the top of the fourth, as Nichols tripled into the right field corner and scored on a throwing error by senior Destiney Diaz to put SLU up, 6-1.
Southeastern put the game away with three runs in the top of the sixth inning. Nichols scored the frame's first run on a throwing error, which was followed by RBI by Gibson and Skains to give SLU a 9-1 lead.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi touched up a pair of SLU relievers – sophomore
Alley McDonald and senior
Lacey Hill – for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before Hayes returned to the game. The Ocean Springs, Mississippi native threw 1.2 scoreless innings to close out the contest and give SLU the series sweep of its league rival.
The Lady Lions will play the next five games at home. The home stand starts with a 3 p.m. non-conference doubleheader versus Alcorn State on Tuesday. Tuesday is Local Hero Appreciation Night, as all first responders, service members and military personnel will receive a discounted ticket with valid ID.
Tuesday is also a Cane's Challenge night at North Oak Park. If the Lady Lions score two or more runs in either game, fans can redeem their game ticket or Cane's coupon at their local participating Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers to receive a free combo with the purchase of another of equal or greater value.
