BEAUMONT, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana and Lamar opened their Southland Conference softball series with a doubleheader split Friday evening at the Lamar Softball Complex.
Southeastern (20-13, 7-4 Southland) won the nightcap, 7-0, to even the day's action. Senior
Rachel Hayes (7-5) won her fifth straight decision in the circle, tossing a five-hit complete-game shutout. Freshman
Ella Manzer and junior
Rebecca Skains led SLU's offensive attack with two RBI apiece.
Lamar (19-16, 5-6 Southland) opened the day with a 5-2 win. Skains had two of the six hits the Lady Lions managed against LU senior Laura Napoli (8-7).
The rubber game of the series is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. Links to live video and stats, provided by the host Cardinals, will be accessible on the softball schedule page at
www.LionSports.net.
Game One – Lamar 5, Southeastern Louisiana 2
Southeastern took the lead in the top of the second, loading the bases with two outs thanks to three Lamar errors. Senior
Maddie Edmonston plated freshman
Anna Rodenberg with an RBI single to put the Lady Lions ahead, 1-0.
Lamar retook the lead for good in the bottom of the second inning against SLU senior
Lacey Hill (8-4). After sophomore Shelby Henderson reached on an error to lead off the frame, junior Taylor Davis deposited a two-run home run over the left field fence to put Lamar up, 2-1.
The Cardinals padded their lead and chased Hill from the game in the bottom of the third inning. Two runs scored on an error and another run came in after sophomore
Tanner Wright took over for Hill. The three-run frame put the Cardinals firmly ahead, 5-1.
A pair of errors allowed SLU to cut in to the LU advantage in the top of the fifth inning. Junior
Jaquelyn Ramon reached on an error by junior Savana Guidry, stole second, moved to third on an infield single by Skains and scored on an errant throw by sophomore Shelby Hughston to cut the Lamar lead to 5-2.
A double by senior
Alli Daigle and an Edmonston walk appeared to bring the tying run to the plate in the top of the sixth inning. However, Edmonston was called out after drawing the free pass to end the Lady Lion threat. In the top of the seventh, Napoli retired the Lady Lions in order to secure the win.
Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 7, Lamar 0
Hayes and LU freshman Taylor Gruell matched zeroes until Southeastern got something going at the plate in the top of the third inning. Singles by Daigle and Edmonston, followed by a walk issued to senior
Mahalia Gibson to load the bases with two outs. Skains flared a single just out of the reach of sophomore centerfielder Shannon Klaus to put SLU up, 2-0.
The Lady Lions doubled their lead in the top of the fourth inning. Sophomore
Ali McCoy sliced a leadoff triple into the right field corner and scored on a sacrifice fly by Daigle. Later in the inning, Nichols singled home Rodenberg to give SLU a commanding 4-0 advantage.
Hayes sat down the first nine Cardinals she faced, before Lamar led off the bottom of the fourth inning with consecutive singles. Hayes put out the fire by retiring the next three batters she faced to keep LU off the board.
Southeastern added two more runs in its half of the fifth inning. Sophomore
Mattie Ort led off the frame with a double and was lifted for senior
Peyton Sutton. McCoy then reached on an error to put a pair of runners on. Freshman
Madisen Blackford ran for McCoy and promptly stole second. Manzer followed with a two-run single to score Sutton and Blackford, staking SLU to a 6-0 lead.
The Lady Lions capped the scoring in the top of the seventh inning. Manzer singled with one out and later scored on an RBI single by Edmonston.
Hayes had no problem shutting the door in the seventh inning. Sophomore Shelby Henderson led off the inning with a single, but Hayes struck out freshman Kimberly Mattox, forced senior Corina Thornton to line out to Ramon and closed out her complete-game shutout of 2018 with a strikeout of Hughston. The Ocean Springs, Mississippi native is 5-0 with a save and a 0.77 ERA in her last eight appearances in the circle.
