HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team will close out the home portion of its Southland Conference schedule with a three-game series versus Central Arkansas at North Oak Park.
 
Both the Lady Lions (26-16, 13-5 Southland) and the visiting Bears (28-17, 15-6 Southland) are trying to improve their seeding over the final two weekends for the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament, scheduled for May 11-14 in Hammond.
 
The series opens with a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and concludes with a noon contest on Saturday. All three games will be televised on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
 
Saturday will also be Senior Day at North Oak Park. The senior class of Anna Rodenberg, Cameron Beal, Kelci Bodin and Shelby Sitzman will be honored following Saturday's series finale.
 
Southeastern picked up its second straight nonconference victory on Tuesday, earning an 8-0 win over Southern. Aeriyl Mass and Lindsey Rizzo collected two hits to lead the Lady Lion offensive attack, while Alyssa Romano, Karlee Kraft and Ellie DuBois combined for a two-hit shutout.
 
The SLU quintet of Audrey Greely (.400), Rizzo (.374), Rodenberg (.364), Mass (.359) and Cameron Goodman (.337) are the top hitters for average for a Lady Lion roster that has a .292 team batting average. Mass also leads the team with 52 hits and 35 runs scored.
 
Mass and Greely share team-high honors with three home runs and seven doubles, while Goodman has a team-high three triples. Mass leads the team with 28 RBI, followed by Greely (20), Goodman (20) and Madisen Blackford (17).
 
The Lady Lions lead the nation with 127 stolen bases and are currently second in Division I with 3.00 steals per game. Rizzo and Mass share the team lead and sit in second in the Southland with 25 stolen bases each, while Goodman is fifth in the league with 23 steals. Greely (14), Bodin (13) and Beal (11) have also been productive on the base paths for SLU.
 
Heather Zumo (15-3, 1.98 ERA) is the leader of a SLU pitching staff that has a 3.69 team earned run average. MC Comeaux (8-5, 4.79 ERA), Sophie Hannabas (2-4, 6.14 ERA) and DuBois (0-2, 2.69 ERA, 6 saves) are the other top arms for the Lady Lions.
 
Jenna Wildeman leads the UCA lineup with a .388 batting average and a league-high 42 stolen bases. Cylla Hill (7 HR, 31 RBI), Kaylyn Shepherd (4 HR, 30 RBI) and Mary Kate Brown (3 HR, 29 RBI) are the top power threats for a Bear offense that comes to Hammond with a .284 batting average.
 
Central Arkansas shares the Southland lead with a 2.04 team ERA. The trio of Kayla Beaver (15-6, 1.43 ERA), Jordan Johnson (9-7, 2.25 ERA, 2 saves) and Rio Sanchez (4-4, 3.05 ERA) have handled the work in the circle for UCA.
 
Up Next
Following the series, Southeastern will close out its regular season home schedule on Tuesday with a 5 p.m. nonconference doubleheader versus Jackson State. The twin bill will be televised on ESPN+.
 
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.