Skip To Main Content

Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics

The Official Website of Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics
Classroom. Community. Competition.
ESPON Plus Logo
Ella Manzer
Randy Bergeron / Southeastern Louisiana University

SLU Welcomes Islanders for Three-Game Southland Series

Series opens with 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, concludes Saturday at noon

3/21/2019 11:22:00 AM

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana will look for its third straight series win to open Southland Conference play when Texas A&M-Corpus Christi comes to town for a three-game league set at North Oak Park
 
Southeastern (16-11, 4-2 Southland) has not opened the season with three consecutive league series victories since the 2015 season. The series with the Islanders (4-24, 1-5 Southland) opens with a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and Saturday's series finale is set for noon.
 
Every home Saturday is Local Heroes Appreciation at North Oak Park, as all first responders, service members and military personnel will receive a discounted ticket with a valid ID. LionVision subscribers will be able to access a live video and audio stream of the series at www.LionSports.net/watch.
 
Southeastern carries a three-game winning streak into the series. On Tuesday, SLU closed its road swing with an 8-1 victory at Alcorn State. Amberlyn Alfano went 3-for-3 to highlight a 12-hit attack, while the pitching quartet of Ali McCoy, Briahna Bennett, Caitlyn VanHemelryck and Shelby Sitzman combined to hold the hosts to five hits.
 
SLU has climbed to the top of the Southland Conference with a .304 team batting average. Ella Manzer (.400, 2nd) and Rebecca Skains (.351, 9th) both sit in the league's top 10 in batting average, while also ranking seventh and eighth in the Southland in slugging percentage.
 
Lindsey Rizzo (.346), Mima Doucet (.344) and Jaquelyn Ramon (.329) are the other top hitters for average for the Lady Lions. Ramon also doubles as the conference's leader in runs (27) and walks (18), as she (.450, 7th) and Manzer (.477, 3rd) are among the Southland's best in terms of on-base percentage.
 
Manzer leads SLU with two home runs, while Skains, Doucet, McCoy, Madisen Blackford and Bobbi Smith each have one apiece. Skains' 13 doubles and Smith's three triples both lead the conference. Skains, whose doubles total is the second-highest in Division I, is fourth in the league with a team-high 22 RBI.
 
With nine stolen bases in Tuesday's victory, SLU has run its nation-leading team total to 130. Ramon continues to lead Division I with 40 stolen bases and is joined in the Southland's top 10 by Smith (19, 3rd), Rizzo (17, 5th), Doucet (13, 7th) and Pryscilla Prince (12, 9th).
 
Ramon, the Southland and SLU career leader with 161 stolen bases, continues to climb the all-time Division I leaderboard. The Channelview, Texas native is currently tied with Delaware State's La'Tosha Williams (1993-95, 97) and Florida State's Shamalene Wilson (1993-96) for 17th all-time and needs to swipe 14 more bags to crack the nation's career top 10.
 
In the circle, a deep Southeastern pitching staff is currently second in the conference with a 2.78 team earned run average. Alley McDonald (4-3, 1.76 ERA, 1 save), Tanner Wright (4-3, 2.15 ERA), Sophie Hannabas (3-3, 4.20 ERA, 1 save) and Karlee Kraft (3-0, 2.28 ERA) are the primary arms for the Lady Lions, while Bennett (2-2, 4.31 ERA), Sitzman (0-0, 5.25 ERA), McCoy (0-0, 5.60 ERA) and VanHemelryck (0-0, 5.25 ERA) have also contributed.
 
The Lady Lions will be facing a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi team that will be looking to end a six-game losing skid. The Islanders are hitting .211 as a team, as Kennedy Johnson leads the squad with a .278 batting average and 13 RBI. Sammi Thomas is the team's top power threat, ranking fourth in the Southland with four home runs.
 
Four Islander pitchers have combined for a 6.29 team ERA. Kandace Johnson (3-5, 4.53 ERA), Alexis Ruel (1-9, 7.42 ERA), Ashley Smith (0-8, 7.55 ERA, 1 save) and Alexis Tovar (0-2, 7.09 ERA) have all seen significant action in the circle this season.
 
This weekend's series will be the Islanders' second trip to Hammond this season. Back on Feb. 16, during Lion Classic II, SLU defeated AMCC, 8-4. Manzer, Blackford and Rizzo had two hits apiece in the win, while Bennett scattered two hits in 3.1 innings of relief to earn her first collegiate victory.
 
Following this weekend's series, SLU will play its next two league series on the road, starting with a three-game set at Northwestern State scheduled for March 29-30 in Natchitoches. The series, which opens with a 5 p.m. contest on Friday and concludes with a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, will be the inaugural battle for the Cypress Trophy.
 
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.
 
 
Print Friendly Version