BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team split a pair of non-conference contests on the opening day of the UAB Green and Gold Classic Saturday at Mary Bowers Field.
 
SLU (4-3) opened the day with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Jacksonville State (0-2). Briahna Bennett belted a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Lady Lions the victory. Aeriyl Mass and Audrey Greely led Southeastern with two hits, supporting Heather Zumo (3-0) on the way to her complete-game victory in the circle.
 
In the nightcap, UAB (3-2) outslugged the Lady Lions, 14-6, in six innings. Bennett and Mass had two hits apiece for SLU. However, the host Blazers took advantage of four Southeastern errors and collected 13 hits on the way to the run-rule victory.
 
Southeastern will face No. 9 UL Lafayette at 10 a.m. and UAB at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. Live stats will be available for both games, while video will be offered for the SLU-UAB contest. Links to live stats and video will be available on the softball schedule page at https://lionsports.net/sports/softball/schedule.
 
Game One – Southeastern Louisiana 2, Jacksonville State 1
Zumo, the reigning Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week, and JSU starter Lexi Androlevich matched zeroes until Jacksonville State broke through in the top of the third inning.
 
With two outs in the frame, Megan Fortner broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run over the left centerfield fence. The Gamecocks then loaded the bases and were poised to break the game open, but Zumo struck out Alex Howard to keep the deficit at 1-0.
 
SLU stranded eight base runners in the first five innings, before finally breaking through in the bottom of the sixth inning. An RBI single by Cameron Goodman knotted the score at 1-1.
 
Jacksonville State put a pair of runners on with one out in the top of the seventh inning. However, Zumo retired Alexus Jimmerson and Sidney Wagnon to keep the score tied.
 
Bennett ended the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, the Alexandria, Louisiana ripped a 3-1 offering from Hannah Brown (0-1) over the left field fence to give Southeastern a dramatic victory.
 
Game Two – UAB 14, Southeastern Louisiana 6 (6 Innings)
SLU took the early lead in the top of the first inning. Lindsey Rizzo singled, stole second and scored on an infield single by Bennett to stake Southeastern to a 1-0 early advantage.
 
UAB answered quickly in the bottom of the first inning. The Blazers sent nine batters to the plate against SLU freshman pitchers MC Comeaux (1-2) and Kassie Salling in a five-run frame to take a 5-1 lead.
 
Southeastern came back to cut the lead in half in the top of the second. A UAB error allowed Mass and Audrey Greely to score and bring the Lady Lions within, 5-3. The Blazers answered in the bottom of the frame, as a two-run home run by Analyse Petree put UAB ahead, 7-3.
 
SLU made one last comeback attempt in the top of the third inning. Goodman singled home Bennett, then two more runs came home on a RBI single by Mass to trim the deficit to 7-6. A pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning allowed UAB to extend its advantage to 9-6.
 
The Lady Lions would not get another hit after the opening three innings. UAB added a run in the fifth and then secured the run-rule victory with a four-run sixth inning.
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail and text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
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.