HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team secured a berth in next month's Southland Conference Tournament with a pair of comeback victories in a doubleheader sweep of league foe Central Arkansas Friday evening at North Oak Park.
The Lady Lions (28-17, 14-6 Southland) extended their win streak to five games and won its third straight league series. The visiting Bears fell to 21-25 overall and 7-13 in league play.
In the opener,
Madisen Blackford hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning in a 3-2 SLU victory.
Alley McDonald (11-5) went the distance in the circle on the way to her ninth conference win.
Ella Manzer's broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning to help Southeastern to a 5-4 win in the nightcap.
Sophie Hannabas (6-4) allowed SLU to rally from a three-run deficit, scattering three hits in 4.1 shutout innings of relief.
The series wraps up at noon on Saturday. At 11:45 a.m., the Lady Lions will honor student assistant Will Hess,
Caitlyn VanHemelryck,
Rebecca Skains and
Jaquelyn Ramon in a Senior Day ceremony.
Live video (LionVision subscription required) and live stats will be accessible at
www.LionSports.net.
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 3, Central Arkansas 2
SLU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Ramon drew a leadoff walk, stole her Division I-leading 55
th stolen base of the season, then scored when
Ella Manzer doubled off the right field fence.
UCA answered back in the top of the second inning. A single by Cylla Hill, followed by walks issued to Morgan Felts and Lauren Brooks to load the bases with one out.
Oakley Sisemore then hit a fly ball to left field that
Bobbi Smith misplayed, allowing Hill to score. McDonald kept the score deadlocked, retiring Reagan Sperling and Kayla Crutchmer to get out of the jam.
McDonald and UCA pitcher Rio Sanchez (8-9) matched zeroes until the top of the fifth inning. With two outs and a pair of runners on, Erin Blackburn hit a line drive to shallow center. SLU's
Caroline Manzer made a diving effort, but couldn't hang on, as the Bears took a 2-1 lead.
The lead would last two batters, as
Caroline Manzer beat out an infield single to lead off the Southeastern half of the fifth inning. Blackford ripped the next pitch over the left centerfield fence. The Des Moines, Iowa native's team-high fifth home run – all versus Southland opposition – of the season put SLU up, 3-2.
McDonald made it stand up, retiring five in a row until Hill beat out an infield single with two outs in the seventh inning. The Whitehouse, Tennessee native shook it off and forced Felts to fly out to center to improve to 9-1 this season in league contests.
Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 5, Central Arkansas 4
UCA jumped out to an early lead in the top of the second inning versus
Karlee Kraft. With one out, Tylar Vernon bombed a 3-2 pitch over the centerfield fence to put the Bears ahead, 1-0.
SLU answered right back in the bottom of the frame.
Ali McCoy drew a two-out walk, stole second and scored when
Caroline Manzer flared an RBI single into right field to even the ledger at 1-1.
UCA had its biggest inning of the day in the top of the third inning. Kaylyn Shepherd and Libby Morris led off the frame with back-to-back singles to chase Kraft from the game.
Tanner Wright gave up an RBI groundout to Blackburn, a run-scoring single to Vernon and a RBI double to Felts.
After walking Sisemore, Wright gave way to Hannabas, who retired Sterling to keep SLU within striking distance at 4-1.
Hannabas would again have to pitch out of trouble in the top of the fourth inning. Shepherd walked, Hill singled and Blackburn drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. With UCA poised to break the game open, Hannabas forced Vernon to ground out to Skains to keep Southeastern within three.
The Lady Lion offense rewarded Hannabas' efforts in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Mima Doucet drew a walk and McCoy beat out an infield single to put runners at the corners.
Cameron Beal pinch ran for McCoy and promptly stole second.
Briahna Bennett then singled through the left side to score Doucet.
With runners on second and third, Sanchez (8-10) uncorked a wild pitch to allow Beal to score. Blackford then hit a slow roller in front of the circle and
Amberlyn Alfano, who pinch ran for Bennett, slid under the tag at home to tie the score at 4-4.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, SLU took the lead for good.
Lindsey Rizzo led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a Skains sacrifice bunt, stole third and scored on a sharp single to center by
Ella Manzer.
Hannabas made it stand up, retiring Central Arkansas in order over the final two innings to complete the doubleheader sweep.
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.
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.
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.
