HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team returns home to host Kent State in a 4 p.m. non-conference contest Wednesday at North Oak Park.
 
The game between the Lady Lions (8-8) and the visiting Golden Flashes (6-4) will be streamed via LionVision at www.LionSports.net/watch (subscription required - no audio).
 
Wednesday will also be a Cane's Challenge. If SLU scores three runs or more, fans can take their game ticket or student coupon to their local participating Raising Cane's by the end of business on Thursday to receive a free combo with the purchase of another of equal or greater value.
 
Southeastern is coming off a 2-2 showing at The Snowman/Alex Wilcox Memorial Tournament at Mississippi State. The Lady Lions narrowly lost to Mississippi State (4-3, 9 innings) and Georgia Tech (4-2), while taking a pair from Alcorn State.
 
Southeastern enters Wednesday's contest ranked second in the Southland with a .323 team batting average. Ella Manzer leads SLU and ranks among the league leaders in batting average (.488, 2^nd), slugging percentage (.732, 2^nd) and on-base percentage (.571, 1^st).
 
Lindsey Rizzo (.385, 9^th) joins Manzer in the Southland top 10 for batting average. Rebecca Skains (.368), Jaquelyn Ramon (.356) and Mima Doucet (.333) are the other top hitters for average for the Lady Lions.
 
Manzer has a team-high two home runs, while Bobbi Smith is the only other Lady Lion to home this season. Skains tops the Southland with eight doubles, while Smith is atop the league leaderboard with three triples. Skains (12 RBI), Manzer (11) and Smith (10) are also SLU's RBI leaders.
 
Ramon leads the Southland with 15 runs scored. Smith (12, 5^th) and Skains (10, 9^th) join her in the league's top 10.
 
The Lady Lions also lead the nation with 73 stolen bases, as Ramon tops Division I with 25 stolen bases. In Ramon, Smith (12, 2^nd), Rizzo (8, 5^th) and Pryscilla Prince (8, 5^th), SLU features four of the most active base stealers in the conference.
 
With 146 career steals, Ramon is the active leader among all Division I student-athletes, as well as the Southland and school career record holder. The Channelview, Texas native needs just three steals to move into the top 25 in Division I history.
 
Eight different pitchers have combined for a 2.64 staff earned run average for Southeastern – good for fourth in the Southland. Alley McDonald (1-2, 2.62 ERA), Tanner Wright (2-3, 2.18 ERA), Sophie Hannabas (2-2, 3.25 ERA) and Karlee Kraft (2-0, 1.08 ERA) have seen the most action, while Briahna Bennett (1-1, 3.65 ERA), Shelby Sitzman (0-0, 2.33 ERA), Ali McCoy (0-0, 10.50 ERA) and Caitlyn VanHemelryck (0-0, 0.00 ERA) have also seen action.
 
The deep SLU pitching staff will be facing a Kent State squad that is hitting .295 as a team heading into a two-game trip to Louisiana that starts with a 5 p.m. contest at LSU on Tuesday. Kaitlyn Miller leads KSU with a .387 batting average, followed by Bailey Brownfield (.367), Alexis Taube (.364), Kennadie Goth (.364) and Carlee Selle (.364).
 
Andrea Scali (6-0, 0.41 ERA) is the unquestioned ace of the Kent State staff, which has a 3.89 staff earned run average. Scali and Madi Huck (0-4, 6.12 ERA) have handled the majority of the work in the circle.
 
Following Wednesday's contest, Southeastern will head to Montgomery, Alabama to compete in the ASU Invitational, hosted by Alabama State. The Lady Lions open up the tournament on Friday, facing Tennessee Tech at 10 a.m. and Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m.
 
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.