HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team will close out its preconference schedule this week, traveling to College Station, Texas to compete in the Reveille Classic on the Texas A&M campus.
 
On Friday, SLU (12-3) will take on Kansas (6-9) at 3 p.m. and Texas A&M (12-6) at 5:15 p.m. The Lady Lions face Kansas at 11 a.m. and Texas A&M at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday. The games versus the host Aggies will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
 
Southeastern is in the midst of an 11-game stretch of games away from home. The Lady Lions opened the road swing with a 4-0 finish at the Mardi Gras Mambo in Youngsville, Louisiana. SLU opened the tournament with a 5-0 win over Middle Tennessee State, earned victories over Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State on Saturday and closed out the tournament with a 3-1 victory over ULM on Sunday.
 
SLU carries a .358 batting average – the seventh-highest in Division I – heading into this week's action. Kelci Bodin is second in the Southland with a team-high .519 batting average, while Madisen Blackford (.475) sits in fifth in the league. Lindsey Rizzo (.439), Audrey Greely (.400) and Aeriyl Mass (.395) round out the team's top five hitters for average.
 
Briahna Bennett and Karlee Kraft share the team lead for SLU with two home runs apiece. Blackford leads the Lady Lions with 14 runs batted in and three triples, while Ella Manzer has a team-high four doubles.
 
SLU leads Division I with 55 stolen bases through the first three weeks of the season. Mass (14, 2^nd), Rizzo (11, 4^th) and Cameron Goodman (9, 5^th) all rank among the league leaders in stolen bases. Mass and Rizzo also occupy the top two spots on the Southland leaderboard with 16 and 15 runs scored, respectively.
 
Eight different Southeastern pitchers have combined for a 2.80 team earned run average. MC Comeaux (3-0, 0.67 ERA, 1 save) and Alley McDonald (3-0, 1.72 ERA) are the leaders of the staff through the first 15 games, while Heather Zumo (2-1, 3.86 ERA), Sophie Hannabas (2-0, 3.00 ERA, 1 save) and Tanner Wright (1-0, 0.00 ERA) have all seen significant action.
 
Kansas is hitting .264 as a team, led by Brittany Jackson's .400 batting average. Shelby Gayre (5 HR, 10 RBI), Morgyn Wynne (4 HR, 13 RBI) and Sydnee Ramsey (3 HR, 13 RBI) are the Jayhawks' top power threats. KU has a 7.60 team ERA with Hailey Reed (3-3, 7.09 ERA) and Tatum Goff (3-3, 4.81 ERA, 1 save) serving as the primary arms.
 
Texas A&M has a .278 team batting average and is led by Makinzy Herzog (.464, 5 HR, 14 RBI). The trio of Kayla Pointer (4-1, 0.97 ERA), Kendall Potts (4-3, 2.22 ERA) and Herzog (3-0, 0.82 ERA, 2 saves) have handled the majority of the work in the circle for the Aggies.
 
Up Next
Southeastern opens Southland Conference play with a three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The series opens with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, March 6 and closes with a noon contest on Saturday, March 7.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball 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 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.