HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team opened Southland Conference play with a convincing doubleheader sweep of Lamar Friday evening at North Oak Park.
In the opener, Southeastern (11-10, 2-0 Southland) took an early 4-0 lead on the way to a 6-2 victory.
Heather Zumo (7-2) allowed three hits in four innings of work, while
Ellie DuBois allowed a hit over three innings of relief to earn her second save of 2021.
Lindsey Rizzo was 2-for-3 at the plate for the Lady Lions, while
Ella Manzer drove in a pair of runs.
A six-run third inning propelled SLU to an 8-1 victory in the nightcap.
Audrey Greely was 3-for-3 at the plate to highlight a 12-hit Southeastern attack, while Manzer and
Cameron Beal drove in two runs apiece.
MC Comeaux (4-4) earned her second straight win in the circle, holding Lamar (2-20, 0-2 Southland) to four hits and fanning five Cardinals in six innings of work.
The series wraps up on Saturday at noon at North Oak Park. Live stats will be available at
www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
Game One – Southeastern Louisiana 6, Lamar 2
Lamar loaded the bases versus Zumo in the top of the first inning. However, Zumo forced Nicolette Ramirez to ground out to keep the Cardinals off the board.
SLU got to LU starter Aaliyah Ruiz (1-6) in the bottom of the first inning.
Aeriyl Mass and Rizzo opened the frame with consecutive singles. One out later, Manzer reached on a fielder's choice and the speedy Mass beat out the throw home. After Rizzo scored on a wild pitch, Manzer came home when Beal reached on an error to give Southeastern a 3-0 lead.
The Lady Lions padded their advantage in the bottom of the second inning.
Cameron Goodman walked, stole second and used heads up base running to score all the way from second on a Mass ground out to put SLU ahead, 4-0.
An RBI double by Hannah Carpenter cut the SLU lead to 4-1 in the third. Lamar pulled even closer on an RBI single by Ramirez in the top of the fifth.
SLU got a run back in the bottom of the frame. Rizzo doubled, moved to third on a fly out by
Madisen Blackford and scored on a sharp RBI single to centerfield by
Ella Manzer to put the Lady Lions up, 5-2.
Southeastern closed out the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Lexi Johnson led off the frame with a double and later scored on a throwing error. After the leadoff batter reached on an error in the top of the seventh, DuBois struck out the side to secure the win.
Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 8, Lamar 1
Lamar took the early lead with an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Aleka Xayaseng reached on an error and later scored on an RBI single by Carpenter to put the Cardinals up, 1-0.
LU starter Shelby Mixon (1-4) retired the first seven Lady Lions she faced before SLU broke open the game with a big bottom of the third inning. A triple by Greely started an inning that saw SLU send 10 batters to the plate. Mass singled home the tie-breaking run, while Manzer and Beal each followed with two-run singles to stake Southeastern to a 6-1 advantage.
Lamar mounted a threat in the top of the fifth inning, as Audry Fleming and Savana Mata drew consecutive walks to open the frame. However, Comeaux bounced back to induce three consecutive fly outs to escape the inning unscathed.
RBI singles by
Madison Watson and Rizzo in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, provided the final margin. DuBois threw a perfect seventh to clinch the doubleheader sweep for the Lady Lions.
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.
