NATCHITOCHES, La. – Northwestern State scored the game-winning run on a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 10
th inning to earn a 4-3 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference softball action Saturday afternoon at the Lady Demon Diamond.
SLU (19-14, 7-5 Southland) was swept in a Southland Conference series for the first time since the 2017 season. Northwestern State improved to 18-16 overall and 9-3 in league action with Saturday's extra-inning win.
The Lady Lions finished with 11 hits in Saturday's loss, led by
Jaquelyn Ramon (3-for-5, 1 run),
Lindsey Rizzo (2-for-5, 1 run) and
Ella Manzer (2-for-5, 1 RBI).
Rebecca Skains drove in two runs for SLU.
Tanner Wright (5-4) went the distance in the circle for Southeastern and took the tough-luck loss. The junior from Lake Charles gave up six hits and two earned runs in 9.1 innings of work.
In the bottom of the 10
th, Alexis Perry singled and E.C. Delafield walked to put a pair of runners on with no outs for NSU. After Riley Cantrell bunted both runners into scoring position, Maggie Black laid down a bunt right in front of home plate.
Wright scooped the ball and was able to tag out pinch runner Kayla Roquemore trying to score. However, after a long conference between the umpiring crew, it was determined that the ball came loose on the tag to give the Lady Demons the win.
SLU took the lead in the top of the first inning. After Rizzo reached on an error, Manzer flared a single to center to plate Rizzo and stake the Lady Lions to an early 1-0 advantage.
The Lady Demons tied it up with an unearned run of their own in the bottom of the first inning. Hayley Barbazon walked and later scored on a two-out Lady Lion error to knot the score at 1-1.
Southeastern retook the lead in the top of the third inning. Ramon and Rizzo singled to lead off the inning, then both scored when Skains lined her team-high 14
th double into the left centerfield gap to put SLU up, 3-1.
The Lady Demons got the run back in the bottom of the frame. Cayla Jones hit a high fly to left that carried over the fence and cut the Lady Lion advantage to 3-2.
SLU mounted a threat in the top of the fourth inning.
Madisen Blackford doubled with one out to put a runner in scoring position. One out later, Ramon beat out an infield single. Blackford tried to score from second, but was thrown out at home to end the inning.
Northwestern State threatened again in the bottom of the fifth inning. Wright hit Jones and walked Barbazon to put a pair of runners on, but Wright forced Kaitlyn St. Clair to ground out to maintain the lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, NSU was able to extend the game. Jones reached on an error and scored on an RBI single by St. Clair to force extra innings.
SLU mounted the next scoring threat, as
Bobbi Smith lined a triple off the right field fence with one out in the top of the ninth inning. However, Samantha Guile (6-7) recovered to retire Ramon and Rizzo to keep the game deadlocked.
NSU put a pair on with two outs in its half of the ninth. However, Wright recovered to force St. Clair to fly out to center to extend the contest.
Southeastern will return home to host ULM on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at North Oak Park. Tuesday's game will feature the Flood the Field promotion, as the first 200 Southeastern students will receive a free t-shirt and snack. Non-Southeastern students can take advantage of a BOGO ticket offer for the SLU-ULM contest.
Tuesday's game will also feature a Cane's Challenge. If the Lady Lions score three or more runs, fans can take their game ticket or student coupon to their participating Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers to receive a free combo with the purchase of another of equal or greater value.
The Lady Lions-Warhawks meeting will be broadcast by the Southeastern Channel on the Southland Digital Network at
www.Southland.org/live and via the Southland apps available for iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.
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.
