HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana closed out the 2019 Lion Classic II with a narrow 2-1 loss to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Sunday at North Oak Park.
 
For the second time in as many days, the host Lady Lions (6-6) came out on the wrong end of a pitcher's duel. Southeastern was edged, 1-0, by UTSA in Saturday's nightcap. With Sunday's win, SIU-E (4-1) took home the Lion Classic II title.
 
Lion pitcher Alley McDonald (1-2) scattered five hits in a complete-game effort and took the hard-luck defeat in the circle. Bobbi Smith, Mima Doucet, Caroline Manzer and Lindsey Rizzo combined for the four hits SLU managed against Cougar pitchers Bianca Vozenilek and Corrina Rivas (2-1).
 
SLU took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Jaquelyn Ramon drew a leadoff walk, stole her team-high 19^th base of the season and school and Southland Conference record 140^th of her career, moved to third on a Smith groundout and raced home on an RBI groundout by Rebecca Skains.
 
Southeastern had a chance to add to its lead in the second. Manzer led off the frame by flaring a double just inside the right field line. After being bunted to third by Ali McCoy, Manzer was stranded when Vozenilek struck out Pryscilla Prince and Madisen Blackford.
 
With two outs in the third inning, Smith launched a triple into the right centerfield gap. However, Vozelnick forced Skains to fly out to keep the lead at 1-0.
 
McDonald retired the first nine batters she faced, before Alana Cobb-Adams singled to open the fourth inning. Cobb-Adams stole second, moved to third on a single by Zoe Schafer and scored on a wild pitch to tie the score.
 
SIU-E took the lead for good in the top of the fifth inning. Reagan Curtis ripped a hot shot just out of the reach of a diving Rizzo. The ball hit off Rizzo's glove and rolled into shallow left field, allowing Curtis to stretch the hit into a double. A sacrifice bunt by Bailley Concatto and sacrifice fly by Kalei Kaneshiro plated Curtis and gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
 
Southeastern nearly tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. After McCoy drew a walk, she gave way to pinch runner Anna Rodenberg, who promptly stole second. Prince then sliced a sinking live drive into shallow centerfield that seemed destined to score the tying run, but SIU-E centerfielder Alyssa Heren made a diving catch to rob Prince and ice the victory.
 
Southeastern, which has played 12 games in the season's first 11 days, will take a few days off before traveling to Starkville, Mississippi to compete in The Snowman, hosted by Mississippi State, which opens Friday.
 
2019 Lion Classic II – February 15-17, 2019 – North Oak Park
 
Tournament Standings
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville – 4-1
Missouri State – 3-2
UTSA – 3-2
Prairie View – 2-2
Southeastern Louisiana – 2-3
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 0-4
 
Friday, February 15
 
SIU-Edwardsville 5, UTSA 4
Prairie View 8, SIU-Edwardsville 6
Southeastern Louisiana 7, Prairie View 0
Missouri State 5, Southeastern Louisiana 3
UTSA 5, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3
Missouri State 4, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1
 
Saturday, February 16
 
SIU-Edwardsville 4, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2
Southeastern Louisiana 8, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4
UTSA 1, Southeastern Louisiana 0
Missouri State 6, Prairie View 2
Prairie View 6, UTSA 2
SIU-Edwardsville 3, Missouri State 1
 
Sunday, February 17
 
Field One
UTSA 2, Missouri State 1
SIU-Edwardsville 2, Southeastern Louisiana 1
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events (softball, baseball, football and basketball), effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.
 
HOME RUN CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the softball program are encouraged to join the Home Run Club. Lady Lion softball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Home Run Club and S Club (softball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern softball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @SLUlionsoftball on Twitter and Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.