HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team clinched its third straight Southland Conference series win with a doubleheader sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday evening at North Oak Park.
 
The Lady Lions (18-11, 6-2 Southland) have opened conference play with three straight series victories for the first time since 2015. After blanking AMCC (4-26, 1-7 SLC), 8-0, in the opener, SLU held off a late Islander rally for a 4-3 win in the nightcap.
 
SLU scored in every inning on the way to the victory in the opener. Lindsey Rizzo drove in three runs, while Mima Doucet added two RBI of her own to lead the Lady Lion offensive attack, which was buoyed by a season-high seven walks. Alley McDonald (5-3) tossed four shutout innings, allowing just two hits in a combined shutout effort with Sophie Hannabas.
 
Rebecca Skains hit her second home run of the season and drove in three runs to lead the Lady Lions in the nightcap. Tanner Wright (5-3) scattered two hits and struck out three in 5.2 shutout innings to earn the victory.
 
The Lady Lions stole nine bases to run their national-leading team total to 139. Four of those steals came by Jaquelyn Ramon, who leads Division I with 44 steals this season. The Channelview, Texas native now has a Southland and SLU career record 165 steals at SLU, moving her into sole possession of 13^th place on the Division I all-time leaderboard.
 
Southeastern will put its five-game winning streak on the line on Saturday, when it goes for the series sweep at noon. LionVision subscribers can access a live video and audio stream at www.LionSports.net/watch. Live stats will also be available at www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
 
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.
 
Game One – Southeastern Louisiana 8, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0 (5 Innings)
Southeastern jumped out to a big lead in the bottom of the first inning. Consecutive walks issued to Rizzo, Skains and Ella Manzer loaded the bases with one out, then Doucet laced a double inside the left field line to plate Rizzo and Skains. Ali McCoy followed with a sacrifice fly deep enough to right to score Manzer. The throw in from the outfield was wild, allowing Doucet to race home and give SLU a 4-0 advantage.
 
SLU added to its lead in the bottom of the second. A Madisen Blackford walk and Bobbi Smith single put a pair on with no outs, then Rizzo cleared the bases with a two-run double to extend the Lady Lion lead to 6-0.
 
Southeastern scored a run without the benefit of a hit in its half of the third. Doucet walked, stole second and advanced to third on an Amberlyn Alfano groundout. Doucet took a big turn when Alfano was retired and Kennedy Johnson tried to double her up at third. However, Johnson's throw was off the mark, allowing Doucet to score and extend the lead to 7-0.
 
Ramon's speed led to SLU's final run in the bottom of the fourth. She stole second after an infield single, moved to third on a passed ball and beat the throw home on a grounder by Rizzo to put Southeastern up, 8-0.
 
McDonald allowed a pair of runners on in the top of the first inning, but was never threatened again over four scoreless innings. Hannabas pitched out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth to allow Southeastern to secure the mercy-rule victory.
 
Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 4, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3
SLU took the early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Ramon beat on an infield single and moved to second on an Islander error. Back-to-back groundouts by Rizzo and Skains plated the Southeastern speedster and gave the Lady Lions a 1-0 lead.
 
Wright and Islander pitcher Alexis Ruel (1-10) matched zeroes until a two-out SLU rally in the bottom of the third. After Rizzo drew a walk, Skains hit the next pitch over the left field fence. The Calhoun, Louisiana native's two-run opposite field shot put Southeastern ahead, 3-0.
 
Ramon used her speed to tack on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning. She led off the frame with a single, then promptly stole second. The throw sailed into centerfield, allowing her to move to third. The Islanders fell asleep on defense and Ramon raced home to put SLU up, 4-0.
 
An RBI single by Kennedy Johnson got the Islanders on the board in the top of the sixth inning. A&M-Corpus Christi then loaded the bases with one out versus SLU relievers Briahna Bennett and Shelby Sitzman. Wright came back in and walked in a run, but recovered to retire Emily Vela and Sammi Thomas to complete the doubleheader sweep.
 
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.