HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team will compete in the Southland Conference Tournament this week at the Lady Demon Diamond on the Northwestern State campus in Natchitoches.
 
The SLU softball team (32-21, 17-10 Southland) will be the No. 5 seed in the league tournament, opening play on Tuesday with an 11 a.m. single-elimination game versus eighth-seeded Central Arkansas (26-27, 12-15 Southland) at the Lady Demon Diamond in Natchitoches. Fans can see the team off to the tournament on Monday at 10:40 a.m., when it departs from the softball indoor facility on North Campus.
 
Should the Lady Lions get by UCA, Southeastern will enter the double-elimination portion of the bracket, which runs Tuesday through Friday. The winner of the tournament receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The first three days of the tournament will be streamed live 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. Friday's noon championship game will be on ESPNU with the if necessary game set for ESPN3.
 
Southeastern (.308) and Central Arkansas (.292) carry the top two team batting averages in the league heading into the postseason. The Lady Lions and Bears feature seven of the top 10 individual batting averages in the Southland.
 
SLU features six starters with plus-.300 batting averages in Ella Manzer (.367), Jaquelyn Ramon (.348), Lindsey Rizzo (.341), Rebecca Skains (.337), Madisen Blackford (.325) and Mima Doucet (.310). UCA has five of its own – Libby Morris (.366), Kaylyn Shepherd (.352), Cylla Hill (.347), Kayla Crutchmer (.344) and Erin Blackburn (.312).
 
Morris is among the league leaders with 10 home runs and 45 RBI. Skains leads the Southland with 19 doubles and 46 RBI. SLU's Bobbi Smith leads the league with six triples.
 
Southeastern leads the nation with 215 stolen bases – tied for the 12^th-highest single-season team total in Division I history and the most since 2001. Ramon has tied former teammate and current Lady Lion assistant coach Katie Lacour for the single-season Southland record with 58 steals. The Channelview, Texas native's 179 career steals are the 10^th-most by an individual in Division I history.
 
Both teams feature deep pitching staffs. Alley McDonald (13-6, 2.09 ERA, 1 save), Sophie Hannabas (6-6, 3.47 ERA, 1 save), Tanner Wright (6-5, 2.80 ERA) and Karlee Kraft (4-1, 2.07 ERA) are the primary arms for SLU, which has a 2.77 team earned run average.
 
UCA has a 3.60 team earned average heading into the tournament. Rio Sanchez (10-10, 2.52 ERA, 1 save), Jordan Johnson (3-1, 3.94 ERA), Rachel Haberman (5-4, 3.81 ERA, 1 save), Kamry Coleman (3-6, 3.20 ERA), Ellie Reaves (2-3, 4.01 ERA, 3 saves) and Kailla Searcy (3-3, 4.80 ERA) have all seen significant action in the circle for the Bears.
 
Southeastern and Central Arkansas met in Hammond on April 19-20 with the Lady Lions taking two of three from the visitors. Southeastern swept a doubleheader with a pair of one-run wins on Friday, then UCA avoided the series sweep with a 5-3 victory on Saturday.
 
The Lady Lions will be making their eighth Southland Conference Tournament and will be appearing in the postseason for consecutive years for the first time since the 2001 and 2002 seasons. SLU is 11-13 all-time in the Southland Conference and is looking for its first-ever conference tournament championship.
 
2019 Southland Conference Tournament – May 7-10, 2019 – Natchitoches, La.
 
Tuesday, May 7 (Southland Digital Network)
Game 1 – No. 5 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 8 Central Arkansas, 11 a.m.*
Game 2 – No. 6 Northwestern State vs. No. 7 Lamar, 1:30 p.m.*
Game 3 – No. 4 Stephen F. Austin vs. Game 1 Winner, 4 p.m.
Game 4 – No. 3 McNeese vs. Game 2 Winner, 6:30 p.m.
 
Wednesday, May 8 (Southland Digital Network)
Game 5 – No. 1 Sam Houston State vs. Game 3 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 6 – No. 2 Nicholls vs. Game 4 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 7 – Game 4 Loser vs. Game 5 Loser, 4 p.m.
Game 8 – Game 3 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser, 6:30 p.m.
 
Thursday, May 9 (Southland Digital Network)
Game 9 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 10 – Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 11 – Game 9 Loser vs. Game 10 Winner, 4 p.m.
 
Friday, May 10
Game 12 – Game 9 Winner vs. Game 11 Winner, 12 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 13 – Rematch if Game 11 Winner also wins Game 12, TBA (ESPN3)
 
* - Single elimination
  
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TICKETS
Tickets are on sale for the Southland Conference Softball Tournament, which will be played May 7-10 at Northwestern State's Lady Demon Diamond. Available options include an all-tournament pass ($20 for adults, $10 kids) and single-game tickets ($10 adults, $5 kids). With valid ID, students from Southland institutions will receive free admission. Tickets can be purchased at nsudemons.com. Click "packages" for all-tournament passes. In addition, fans can call the ticket office at 318-357-4268 or buy tickets at the gate via cash or card.
 
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.