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Sophie Hannabas
Arief Harlan / Hammond America Media
1
Stephen F. Austin SFA 13-11, 1-2 SLC
3
Winner Southeastern La. SLU 13-10, 2-1 SLC
Stephen F. Austin SFA
13-11, 1-2 SLC
1
Final
3
Southeastern La. SLU
13-10, 2-1 SLC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Stephen F. Austin SFA 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 1
Southeastern La. SLU 0 1 0 0 2 0 X 3 6 1

W: Hannabas, Sophie (3-2) L: Wilbur, Kassidy (7-8) S: McDonald, Alley (1)

Game Recap: Softball |

SLU Runs Past SFA, 3-1, to Claim Opening Southland Series

SLU improves to 13-10 overall and 2-1 in league play

HAMMOND, La. – Heads up base running by Jaquelyn Ramon and Lindsey Rizzo provided the go-ahead runs for Southeastern Louisiana in a 3-1 win over Stephen F. Austin in the rubber game of its opening Southland Conference softball series Saturday afternoon at North Oak Park.
 
The Lady Lions (13-10, 2-1 Southland) stole seven bases in the win, running their season total to 111 through 23 games. Stephen F. Austin fell to 13-11 overall and 1-2 in league action.
 
SLU's aggressiveness on the base paths backed up a strong outing in the circle for Sophie Hannabas (3-2), who posted the best effort of her young Lady Lion career. The freshman from Mansfield, Texas scattered six hits and fanned four in 6.1 innings of work. Alley McDonald retired the final two batters of the game to earn her first save of the season.
 
Ramon stole three bases, while Rizzo swiped two to fuel the SLU offensive attack, as six different Lady Lions collected the team's six hits. Ramon now has 35 steals in her senior campaign. The Southland Conference and SLU career record holder has moved into a tie with Arizona's Caitlin Lowe (2004-07) for 19th on the all-time Division I leaderboard with 156 career steals.
 
"Stephen F. Austin is a very good team that came in here with three wins versus top 25 teams to its credit," Southeastern head coach Rick Fremin said. "When we were able to execute our game plan, we were successful. Our speed game made the difference today, but we also got two great pitching performances from Sophie and Alley this weekend.
 
"SFA is going to win a lot of games this season, so we're really pleased with this start," Fremin added. "Our young team responded well this weekend in a very well-played series."
 
SLU struck first versus Ladyjack ace Kassidy Wilbur (8-7) in the bottom of the second. Mima Doucet, who hit .625 in her first Southland series, led off the inning with a single, then moved to third when Ali McCoy sliced a double inside the right field line. Doucet would come home when Wilbur uncorked a wild pitch to give the Lady Lions a 1-0 lead.
 
Hannabas stranded four Ladyjacks over the first four scoreless frames, before SFA knotted the score in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Alex Hedspeth lined a shot just inside the left field foul pole to even the ledger at 1-1.
 
One out later, Triniti Kendzior drummed a double over the head of Amberlyn Alfano into the right field corner to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. However, Hannabas forced Clements to ground out to keep the score deadlocked.
 
Southeastern took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out rally. Ramon singled, then promptly stole second and third. Rizzo then drew a walk and never quit running, stealing second. While SFA was distracted with Rizzo, Ramon stole home to give SLU the lead.
 
Rebecca Skains then hit a grounder to first that Margarita Corona bobbled. Skains won the race to the bag and the speedy Rizzo scored to provide SLU with an insurance run and a 3-1 cushion.
 
A diving catch by Alfano highlighted a 1-2-3 sixth for Hannabas, but SFA mounted one last threat in the top of the seventh. A one-out single by Bryana Novegil chased Hannabas and then McDonald walked Hedspeth to put the tying run on base.
 
McDonald recovered to force Corona to ground into a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning. With runners at the corners, Kendzior hit a shot that looked destined to sneak through the left side of the infield and plate a run. Doucet had other ideas, making a diving stop and throwing Kendizor out from her knees to give SLU the series victory.
 
SLU will open the road portion of its Southland Conference schedule next week, traveling to Houston Baptist for a three-game league series. The set opens with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and concludes with a noon game on Saturday.
 
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.
 
 
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