HAMMOND, La. – A four-run fourth inning gave Northwestern State the lead for good on the way to a 7-4 victory over host Southeastern Louisiana in the second round of the 2021 Southland Conference Softball Tournament Thursday afternoon at North Oak Park.
 
With the loss, Southeastern (28-22) will compete in an elimination game on Friday at 11 a.m. Northwestern State (23-20) advanced to face top seed Stephen F. Austin in Thursday's final game at 6:30 p.m. All the tournament games will be shown on ESPN+.
 
Audrey Greely and Aeriyl Mass led SLU at the plate with two hits apiece, while Cameron Goodman drove in a pair of runs. Five Lady Lions saw action in the circle with Alyssa Romano leading the Lady Lions with four strikeouts in three innings of work.
 
NSU took an early lead in the bottom of the second. Keely DuBois led off the frame with a solo home run over the left field fence to stake the Lady Demons to a 1-0 advantage.
 
SLU answered in the top of the third inning. Singles by Greely and Lindsey Rizzo, followed by Northwestern State pitcher EC Delafield (11-4) hitting Madisen Blackford to load the bases.
 
Lexi Johnson then drew a bases loaded walk to knot the score. Delafield recovered to retire Madison Watson to get out of the inning with the game deadlocked.
 
Southeastern took the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Cameron Beal drew a walk to lead off the inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Goodman. Mass added to the lead by doubling home Greely to put the Lady Lions up, 3-1.
 
Northwestern State chased Romano after she allowed a walk to Cayla Jones in the bottom of the fourth. A pair of errors helped the Lady Lions open the floodgates versus SLU reliever Karlee Kraft. The Lady Demons sent 10 to the plate in a four-run frame – three of which were unearned – on the way to a 5-3 lead. NSU added to its advantage on an RBI single by Kat Marshall, padding its cushion to 6-3.
 
Southeastern pulled closer in its half of the sixth. Greely reached on a two-out error and scored when Goodman hit a triple over the head of NSU centerfielder Hayley Barbazon to cut the lead to 6-4.
 
Northwestern State got the run back on a sacrifice fly by Alexis Perry in the bottom of the sixth inning. Rizzo and Blackford both reached to put a pair of runners on with no outs, but Delafield recovered to retire Kelci Bodin, Watson and Sadie Hewitt to close out the victory.
 
2021 Southland Conference Softball Tournament
May 12-15 | Hammond, La.
 
Wednesday, May 12
Game 1 – No. 7 Sam Houston 4, No. 6 Houston Baptist 3 (HBU eliminated)
Game 2 – No. 5 Southeastern Louisiana 4, No. 8 Abilene Christian 3 (8 Innings) (ACU eliminated)

Thursday, May 13
No. 3 McNeese 3, Sam Houston 1
No. 4 Northwestern State 7, Southeastern Louisiana 4
4 p.m. – Game 5 – No. 2 Central Arkansas vs. McNeese
6:30 p.m. – Game 6 – No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. Northwestern State
 
Friday, May 14
11 a.m. – Game 7 – Southeastern Louisiana vs. Loser Game 5
1:30 p.m. – Game 8 – Sam Houston vs. Loser Game 6
4 p.m. – Game 9 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
6:30 p.m. – Game 10 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
 
Saturday, May 15 (Championship)
11 a.m. – Game 11 – Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10
1 p.m. – Game 12 – Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11
 
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.